[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":408},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:focaccia":3,"recipe:country:italy":195},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":71,"baseServings":76,"prepMinutes":77,"cookMinutes":78,"restMinutes":79,"difficulty":80,"course":81,"diet":83,"mainIngredients":87,"ingredients":91,"instructions":133,"nutrition":169,"images":176,"keywords":186,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"focaccia","Focaccia Genovese (Dimpled Olive Oil Flatbread)","Fugassa","foh-KAH-chah jeh-noh-VEH-zeh","italy","Liguria","🫒","Genoa's everyday bread: a slack dough pressed full of deep fingertip dimples, flooded with a salt-and-oil brine, and baked hot so it puffs soft above and fries crisp on the tray beneath.","Focaccia genovese is a thin, oil-soaked flatbread about two centimetres tall, punched all over with holes that fill with a brine of water, olive oil and coarse salt before it goes into the oven. That brine is the whole trick. It keeps the surface from drying, seasons the bread in pools rather than evenly, and leaves the top glossy and faintly damp while the underside effectively shallow-fries against the oiled tray into something crisp and golden. The crumb between them stays soft and slightly chewy. It tastes of good olive oil first and bread second, salty in bursts, and it is eaten all day in Liguria — for breakfast, as a mid-morning snack, torn beside a plate of anchovies, or split and stuffed. The dough is forgiving, needs no kneading skill and asks for nothing you cannot buy in a supermarket.","Liguria is a thin strip of coast wedged between mountains and sea, and its cooking reflects that geography: olive oil rather than butter, herbs rather than dairy, and a lot of bread. Focaccia — fugassa in Genoese — is the region's daily bread rather than an occasional bake, sold by weight in bakeries from early morning and wrapped in paper still warm. The most Genoese habit attached to it is breakfast: locals dip strips of focaccia into a cappuccino, which visitors find alarming and which is entirely normal there. It is also standard on building sites, in school bags and at eleven in the morning for no particular reason.\n\nThe name comes from panis focacius, bread baked on the hearth or in the ashes, and flatbreads of that kind long predate anything we would recognise as focaccia today. What makes the Genoese version specific is the salamoia — the emulsion of water, oil and salt poured into the dimples — and the dimples themselves, made with the fingertips of both hands pressed right down to the tray so the dough is pinned in place and cannot puff up into a pizza. The commercial standard in Genoa is precise about height, oiliness and that pockmarked surface, and bakers will tell you a focaccia without visible pools of oil in its holes is not finished.\n\nElsewhere in Italy the word means different things. Focaccia barese, from Puglia, has boiled potato worked into the dough, is thicker and softer, and comes studded with cherry tomatoes and olives pressed into the surface. Focaccia di Recco, from a town just along the Ligurian coast, is not leavened at all — two paper-thin sheets of dough with soft stracchino cheese between them, baked in a fierce oven until it blisters — and it carries protected IGP status in its own right. The three are related only by name and by the fact that all of them are excellent. This recipe is the Genoese one.",[15,16,17,18],"Uses the real salamoia brine rather than a plain oil drizzle, which is what separates focaccia from oily bread.","A 70% hydration dough handled with folds instead of kneading — no mixer, no technique to learn.","Two tray sizes given, so you can choose the classic thin Genoese version or a taller, softer one.","Bakes in twenty minutes and is honestly at its best the same day, which the recipe plans around.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Push the dimples all the way down until your fingertips touch the tray. Shy dimples close up in the oven and you get a flat, uniform bread instead of a cratered one.","Whisk the brine hard right before you pour it — it separates in seconds, and pouring on the oil and water unmixed gives you salty patches and bland patches.","Oil the tray generously, three tablespoons for a 30 × 40 cm tray. The base is meant to fry, not bake, and this is where the crisp underside comes from.","Let the dough come back to room temperature for a full hour if it has been in the fridge. Cold dough fights the dimpling and springs back into a smooth sheet.","Coarse salt on top, always — fine salt dissolves into the brine and disappears, while coarse crystals stay as distinct salty hits.","Bake on a low shelf in a fully preheated oven. The heat has to hit the tray from below hard enough to set the base before the top browns.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Fresh yeast","3.5 g instant dried yeast, stirred straight into the flour","Same result. If you use active dry yeast rather than instant, wake it in the lukewarm water with the honey for 10 minutes first.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Honey or malt in the dough","Leave it out, or use a teaspoon of sugar","It is there only to help the crust colour in a domestic oven that does not get very hot. The bread is fine without it, just paler.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Extra virgin olive oil","A milder olive oil for the dough, keeping the good stuff for the brine and the finish","Given how much oil this bread contains, a harsh or rancid oil ruins it outright. Use one you would happily eat on bread.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"Focaccia alle olive","Press whole pitted Taggiasca or other small black olives into the dimples before the brine goes on. They half-roast and their oil runs into the crumb.",{"name":44,"description":45},"Focaccia con le cipolle","Scatter thinly sliced onion, softened first in oil so it does not burn, over the surface after brining. Sweet, jammy patches against the salt.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Focaccia barese","The Pugliese cousin: work 150 g of cooked mashed potato into the dough, halve the yeast, and press halved cherry tomatoes and olives into the top. Thicker, softer, and a different bread entirely.",[50],"Sliced mortadella or prosciutto, a bowl of olives, and a glass of cold Pigato — or, at breakfast, a cappuccino to dip it in.","Focaccia is a same-day bread and starts stiffening within a few hours; the brine that keeps it moist also stops it keeping. Leave it uncovered at room temperature for the first hours — wrapping it while warm steams the crisp base soft. To revive day-old focaccia, sprinkle it with a few drops of water and put it into a 200 °C oven for 5 minutes, which restores most of it. It freezes better than it keeps: cut into portions, freeze in bags the day it is baked, and reheat straight from frozen at 200 °C for 8 minutes. Do not refrigerate it — the crumb goes stale roughly six times faster at fridge temperature.",[53,56,59,62,65,68],{"question":54,"answer":55},"Why did my dimples disappear during baking?","They were not deep enough. The fingertips have to go right through the dough until you feel the tray, which pins the layer down and stops the gas lifting it into a smooth dome. Dimpling immediately before the final rest also lets them relax and close; do it after the dough has been in the tray a while, and if a few close up during the last proof, push them down again just before the brine goes on.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"How much oil is too much oil?","For a 30 × 40 cm tray, roughly three tablespoons under the dough, 30 g mixed into the dough itself and another 40 ml in the brine is normal for the Genoese style, and it should look like a lot. There should be visible pools sitting in the holes when the tray goes into the oven. If the finished bread does not glisten, it was under-oiled — that is the far more common mistake.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"Can I make the dough the day before?","Yes, and it improves the flavour. After the first hour of rising, cover the bowl and refrigerate it for 12 to 24 hours, then take it out, let it come fully to room temperature for about an hour, and continue with pressing it into the tray. Cold dough is impossible to dimple properly, so do not rush that hour.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"What is the difference between focaccia and pizza dough?","They start from similar ingredients but the handling diverges. Focaccia dough is wetter, contains olive oil in the mix, is left much thicker, is dimpled rather than stretched, and is seasoned with a salt brine before baking. Pizza dough is drier, usually oil-free in the Neapolitan tradition, stretched thin and baked far hotter and faster. Focaccia is a bread; pizza is a base for a topping.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"My focaccia is dense and heavy rather than airy — what went wrong?","Most often the dough was under-proofed or too dry. This is a 70% hydration dough and it should be slack and sticky, not smooth and firm; adding flour to make it easier to handle costs you the open crumb. Also check the second rise in the tray — the dough should look visibly puffed and jiggle when you shake the tray before you dimple and bake it.",{"question":69,"answer":70},"Can I bake focaccia in a round cake tin or a smaller dish?","Yes, as long as you match the dough to the area. This quantity fits a 30 × 40 cm tray for classic thin Genoese focaccia, or a 30 × 25 cm tray for a taller and softer one. In a 28 cm round tin, use two-thirds of the dough. What matters is that the dough sits roughly 1.5 to 2.5 cm deep before baking.",[72,73,74,75],"Large mixing bowl","30 × 40 cm rimmed baking tray (or 30 × 25 cm for a thicker focaccia)","Small whisk for the brine","Bench scraper",8,25,20,180,"easy",[82],"bread",[84,85,86],"vegetarian","vegan","dairy-free",[88,89,90],"flour","olive-oil","yeast",[92,97,100,104,108,110,117,122,125,127,130],{"ref":88,"qty":93,"unit":94,"name":95,"group":96},500,"g","strong white bread flour or Italian 00","For the dough",{"qty":98,"unit":94,"name":99,"group":96},350,"water, lukewarm",{"ref":90,"qty":101,"unit":94,"name":102,"note":103,"group":96},10,"fresh yeast, crumbled","or 3.5 g instant dried yeast",{"ref":89,"qty":105,"unit":106,"name":107,"group":96},30,"ml","extra virgin olive oil",{"qty":101,"unit":94,"name":109,"group":96},"fine salt",{"ref":111,"qty":112,"unit":113,"name":114,"optional":115,"note":116,"group":96},"honey",1,"tsp","honey or barley malt",true,"helps the top colour in a home oven",{"ref":89,"qty":118,"unit":119,"name":120,"group":121},3,"tbsp","extra virgin olive oil, for the tray","For the tray and brine",{"qty":123,"unit":106,"name":124,"group":121},50,"warm water",{"ref":89,"qty":126,"unit":106,"name":107,"group":121},40,{"qty":128,"unit":94,"name":129,"group":121},6,"coarse sea salt, plus extra to scatter",{"ref":131,"qty":112,"unit":119,"name":132,"optional":115,"group":121},"rosemary","rosemary needles",[134,138,142,147,150,154,158,163,166],{"title":135,"text":136,"tip":137},"Mix a wet, shaggy dough","Dissolve the yeast and the honey in the lukewarm water. Add the flour and stir with a spoon or one hand until there is no dry flour left, then work in the fine salt and the 30 ml of olive oil. The dough will be sticky and shapeless — that is correct.","Resist adding flour. Every extra spoonful trades away the open, tender crumb you are aiming for.",{"title":139,"text":140,"timerSeconds":141},"Fold instead of kneading","Cover the bowl and rest for 20 minutes, then wet one hand, lift an edge of the dough high and fold it into the centre, turning the bowl and repeating four times. Do this three times at 20-minute intervals — by the last set the dough should feel smooth, stretchy and airy.",1200,{"title":143,"text":144,"timerSeconds":145,"tip":146},"First rise","Cover and leave in a warm spot for about 1 hour, until the dough has roughly doubled, looks domed and is visibly full of bubbles when you tilt the bowl.",3600,"To bake tomorrow instead, refrigerate the covered bowl now for 12–24 hours and bring it fully back to room temperature before the next step.",{"title":148,"text":149},"Oil the tray and stretch the dough","Pour the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the baking tray and spread it into the corners with your palm. Tip the dough in without deflating it and coax it outward with oiled fingers. It will fight back and shrink — stop, wait 15 minutes, and push it out the rest of the way.",{"title":151,"text":152,"timerSeconds":153},"Second rise in the tray","Cover loosely and leave for 45–60 minutes, until the dough is puffed, relaxed to the edges of the tray and wobbles as a whole when you shake it. Heat the oven to 230 °C with a shelf near the bottom.",3000,{"title":155,"text":156,"tip":157},"Dimple to the tray","Oil your fingertips and press straight down through the dough with the fingers of both hands spread, all over the surface, until you feel the metal underneath. Go right up to the edges. The dough should end up looking cratered, not rippled.","If it deflates dramatically, it over-proofed slightly. Bake it anyway — it will still be very good, just a little denser.",{"title":159,"text":160,"timerSeconds":161,"tip":162},"Whisk and pour the brine","Whisk the 50 ml of warm water, 40 ml of olive oil and 6 g of coarse salt together hard until cloudy and combined, then pour it immediately over the whole surface so it collects in the dimples. Scatter over a little more coarse salt and the rosemary. Rest 10 minutes.",600,"The brine will look like far too much liquid sitting on top. It is not — the dough drinks most of it in the oven.",{"title":164,"text":165,"timerSeconds":141},"Bake hot","Bake on the low shelf for 18–22 minutes, until the raised ridges are deep gold, the pools in the dimples are still glossy and the underside is crisp and browned when you lift a corner with a palette knife.",{"title":167,"text":168,"timerSeconds":161},"Slide it out at once","Lift the focaccia straight out of the tray onto a rack — leaving it in the hot tray steams the crisp base soft within minutes. Brush the top with a last thin film of olive oil, cool for 10 minutes, and cut into squares.",{"calories":170,"protein":171,"carbs":172,"fat":173,"fiber":174,"sodium":175,"estimated":115},330,7,47,12,2,720,[177,180,182,184],{"src":178,"alt":179},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffocaccia\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden Genoese focaccia in a tray, its deep fingertip dimples glossy with olive oil and coarse salt",{"src":181,"alt":179},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffocaccia\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":183,"alt":179},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffocaccia\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":185,"alt":179},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffocaccia\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[4,187,188,189,190,191,192],"focaccia genovese","italian bread","olive oil","liguria","flatbread","no knead","2026-08-19","dishroute-kitchen",{"items":196,"total":101,"page":112,"limit":406,"hasMore":407},[197,228,251,258,282,304,323,347,370,387],{"slug":198,"title":199,"nativeName":200,"countrySlug":8,"region":201,"baseServings":128,"prepMinutes":202,"cookMinutes":203,"restMinutes":204,"difficulty":205,"course":206,"diet":210,"mainIngredients":211,"images":217,"keywords":221,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"arancini","Arancini (Sicilian Fried Stuffed Rice Balls)","Arancini di riso","Sicily",60,70,240,"medium",[207,208,209],"street-food","snack","appetizer",[],[212,213,214,215,216],"rice","ground-beef","mozzarella","parmesan","tomato",[218],{"src":219,"alt":220},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Farancini\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden fried Sicilian arancini, one broken open to show saffron rice, meat ragù, peas and melted mozzarella",[198,222,223,224,225,226,227],"arancine","sicilian street food","fried rice balls","saffron rice","ragu","sicily",{"slug":229,"title":230,"nativeName":231,"countrySlug":8,"region":232,"baseServings":76,"prepMinutes":126,"cookMinutes":101,"restMinutes":204,"difficulty":205,"course":233,"diet":235,"mainIngredients":236,"images":239,"keywords":243,"publishedAt":250,"updatedAt":250,"authorSlug":194},"tiramisu","Classic Tiramisu","Tiramisù","Veneto \u002F Friuli Venezia Giulia",[234],"dessert",[84],[237,238],"eggs","heavy-cream",[240],{"src":241,"alt":242},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ftiramisu\u002Fhero.jpg","A slice of layered tiramisu with espresso-soaked savoiardi, mascarpone cream and cocoa dusting",[229,244,245,246,247,248,249],"italian dessert","mascarpone","espresso","no-bake","savoiardi","veneto","2026-08-18",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":76,"prepMinutes":77,"cookMinutes":78,"restMinutes":79,"difficulty":80,"course":252,"diet":253,"mainIngredients":254,"images":255,"keywords":257,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},[82],[84,85,86],[88,89,90],[256],{"src":178,"alt":179},[4,187,188,189,190,191,192],{"slug":259,"title":260,"nativeName":261,"countrySlug":8,"region":262,"baseServings":263,"prepMinutes":264,"cookMinutes":265,"restMinutes":101,"difficulty":80,"course":266,"diet":268,"mainIngredients":270,"images":272,"keywords":276,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"insalata-caprese","Insalata Caprese (Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad)","Insalata caprese","Campania",4,15,0,[209,267],"side",[84,269],"gluten-free",[216,214,271,89],"basil",[273],{"src":274,"alt":275},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Finsalata-caprese\u002Fhero.jpg","Plate of sliced ripe tomatoes with torn buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and olive oil",[277,278,279,280,271,281],"caprese","tomato mozzarella salad","capri","buffalo mozzarella","summer salad",{"slug":283,"title":284,"nativeName":285,"countrySlug":8,"region":286,"baseServings":118,"prepMinutes":126,"cookMinutes":264,"restMinutes":287,"difficulty":205,"course":288,"diet":290,"mainIngredients":292,"images":293,"keywords":297,"publishedAt":250,"updatedAt":250,"authorSlug":194},"margherita-pizza","Margherita Pizza (Neapolitan Style in a Home Oven)","Pizza margherita","Naples, Campania",480,[289,207],"main",[84,291],"nut-free",[88,216,271],[294],{"src":295,"alt":296},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fmargherita-pizza\u002Fhero.jpg","Margherita pizza with blistered crust, melted mozzarella, tomato sauce and fresh basil leaves",[298,299,300,301,302,214,303],"pizza","margherita","naples","neapolitan","pizza dough","home oven",{"slug":305,"title":306,"nativeName":307,"countrySlug":8,"region":262,"baseServings":128,"prepMinutes":126,"cookMinutes":202,"restMinutes":78,"difficulty":205,"course":308,"diet":309,"mainIngredients":310,"images":312,"keywords":316,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"melanzane-alla-parmigiana","Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Baked Aubergine with Tomato and Mozzarella)","Melanzane alla parmigiana",[289],[84,269],[311,216,214,215,271],"eggplant",[313],{"src":314,"alt":315},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fmelanzane-alla-parmigiana\u002Fhero.jpg","Baked aubergine parmigiana in a dish, browned cheese on top and visible layers of aubergine and tomato in a cut portion",[317,318,319,320,321,322],"parmigiana","melanzane","aubergine bake","eggplant parmesan","campania","vegetarian italian",{"slug":324,"title":325,"nativeName":326,"countrySlug":8,"region":327,"baseServings":128,"prepMinutes":77,"cookMinutes":202,"difficulty":80,"course":328,"diet":330,"mainIngredients":331,"images":337,"keywords":341,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"minestrone","Minestrone (Italian Thick Vegetable and Bean Soup)","Minestrone","Northern and central Italy",[329,289],"soup",[84],[332,333,334,335,216,336],"carrot","onion","potato","zucchini","pasta",[338],{"src":339,"alt":340},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fminestrone\u002Fhero.jpg","Bowl of thick minestrone packed with diced vegetables, beans and small pasta, drizzled with olive oil",[324,342,343,344,345,346],"italian vegetable soup","bean soup","soffritto","ribollita","seasonal vegetables",{"slug":348,"title":349,"nativeName":350,"countrySlug":8,"region":351,"baseServings":263,"prepMinutes":77,"cookMinutes":352,"restMinutes":101,"difficulty":205,"course":353,"diet":354,"mainIngredients":355,"images":358,"keywords":362,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"ossobuco-alla-milanese","Ossobuco alla Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks with Gremolata)","Ossobuco alla milanese","Lombardy",135,[289],[],[356,332,333,216,357],"veal","lemon",[359],{"src":360,"alt":361},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fossobuco-alla-milanese\u002Fhero.jpg","Braised veal shank with soft marrow in the bone, coated in dark sauce and topped with green gremolata",[363,364,365,366,367,368,369],"ossobuco","veal shank","gremolata","milan","braised veal","lombardy","slow braise",{"slug":371,"title":372,"nativeName":373,"countrySlug":8,"region":351,"baseServings":263,"prepMinutes":264,"cookMinutes":105,"restMinutes":174,"difficulty":205,"course":374,"diet":375,"mainIngredients":376,"images":378,"keywords":382,"publishedAt":193,"updatedAt":193,"authorSlug":194},"risotto-alla-milanese","Risotto alla Milanese (Saffron Risotto from Milan)","Risotto alla milanese",[289],[269],[212,215,377,333],"butter",[379],{"src":380,"alt":381},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Frisotto-alla-milanese\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden saffron risotto spread in a wave across a shallow white plate with grated Parmigiano on top",[383,384,366,385,368,386],"risotto alla milanese","saffron risotto","carnaroli","italian rice",{"slug":388,"title":389,"nativeName":390,"countrySlug":8,"region":391,"baseServings":263,"prepMinutes":101,"cookMinutes":264,"difficulty":205,"course":392,"diet":393,"mainIngredients":394,"images":395,"keywords":399,"publishedAt":250,"updatedAt":250,"authorSlug":194},"spaghetti-carbonara","Spaghetti Carbonara (Roman Guanciale and Egg Pasta)","Spaghetti alla carbonara","Rome, Lazio",[289],[291],[336,237,215],[396],{"src":397,"alt":398},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fspaghetti-carbonara\u002Fhero.jpg","Spaghetti carbonara with glossy egg and pecorino sauce, crisp guanciale and black pepper",[400,336,401,402,403,404,405],"carbonara","rome","guanciale","pecorino","no cream","roman pasta",24,false,1787360077584]