Focaccia

This recipe takes a bit of time to prepare but the instructions are simple and you can't beat having a freshly baked loaf of bread to serve with dinner!  If your apartment is cold (like mine) it will take longer for the dough to rise.  Try placing the dough near some sort of heat source to speed things up.  I try to place mine near the kitchen heater.  Don't place directly on/over a heat source though or you will start to cook your dough.

For one loaf:
2, 7g packaget of instant rise yeast
650ml warm water
1 kg white bread flour
2 tablespoons of fine salt
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt
1 handful of fresh rosemary

In a large bowl, mix the yeast into the water and whisk until the yeast is dissolved.  Add half of the bread flour and use a whisk to beat until smooth.  At this stage, your mixture will be very wet, like pancake batter.  Mentally mark the "tide line" of the batter on the side of the bowl.  Leave, covered with plastic wrap, until the mixture has risen and starts to fall again (about 1 hour in a warm kitchen, 30+ minutes longer in a cool one).  Knead in the other 500g of bread flour and the salt.  Work everything together until there are no lumps.

Transfer the dough to a warm, oiled, clean bowl and leave it to rise for at least 1 more hour.  Knock the dough back down and let it rise one more time.  It can be baked now or refrigerated overnight.

Oil your hands and a parchment-lined baking tray.  Take the dough and manipulate it into a long, 1.5-2" high oval shape on the baking tray. Smear olive oil  over the top and cover with plastc wrap.  Leave it in a warm place to rise.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit.  When the dough has risen by one third, remove the plastic wrap, oil your hands and lightly press your fingers into the dough to leave dimples on the surface. Scatter the flaky sea salt and rosemary over the top, pressing the rosemary into the surface.

Bake the dough until golden brownl  To test the bread's doneness, tap it on the bottom, it should sound hollow.