Whole-wheat Potato Focaccia - Focaccia Barese

I have a certain passion for yeasted dough. Mixing the ingredients and then kneading them to create the gluten network that will give the structure to the final product. Waiting for the dough to prove and seeing how it grows. And then baking the product, and feeling the nice smell of the Maillard reaction that takes place on the crust. All of this has some kind of magic and romance in it. Although we know it’s all about chemical and physical reactions. I like making bread loafs, bread rolls and focaccia.

Focaccia barese is one of my favorites. It is a real classic of the Apulian culinary tradition, and one cannot visit this wonderful region in the South of Italy without tasting this baked product at least once. It has a peculiar feature that makes it different compared to other types of focaccia: potatoes are one of its basic ingredients. On one side, potatoes have a moisturizing effect on the texture of the focaccia, making it softer. On the other, its starch contributes to the Maillard reaction, enhancing the flavor and the outer crunchiness.

In the traditional recipe, plain flour and semolina are used to make this focaccia dough together with the potatoes. For my recipe I used whole-wheat flour instead of the semolina because it creates a different texture and it adds a distinctive flavor. 

Usually, cherry tomatoes are laid on its surface, sprinkled with olive oil and oregano. However, other ingredients can be used, such as rosemary.

Here we go with the recipe of the whole-wheat potato focaccia.

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 200g whole-wheat flour
• 150g potatoes
• 15g salt
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 10g fresh yeast
• 350g water

For the garnish

• Olive oil
• Oregano
• Cherry tomatoes
• (Pitted olives if you want)

Boil the potatoes with their skin for about 20/25 minutes, then drain them, remove the skin and mash them. Put all the dry ingredients (plain flour, whole-wheat flour, salt and a pinch of sugar) in a bowl and add the potato mash mixing everything together with your hands. Add the olive oil and mix. 

In the meantime, make the yeast dissolve in some of the water (it should be warm, around 35°C, but no more than that, otherwise you kill the yeast and the focaccia does not prove). Pour the dissolved yeast and the rest of the water into the bowl a little at a time while mixing with your hands to let the dry part incorporate the liquid. The dough should have a quite runny consistency. 

Grease a round baking tray (30cm Ø) with olive oil and pour the dough into it. Spread the mixture in the tray to make an even layer. Sprinkle some olive oil on the surface and spread it thoroughly all over it using your finger tips or the back of a spoon, to prevent crusting. Cover the tray with a cloth and let prove for about a couple of hours (the dough should double its size). The best room temperature for the proving process is 26-32°C; it is quite difficult having such a room temperature in your house, in winter in particular. The best thing to do to solve this problem is preheating the oven to 50°C, then turning it off and keeping the tray inside with the oven door slightly open.

When the dough is proven, preheat the oven to 190°C (standard oven). Sprinkle some more olive oil and some oregano over the surface. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and lay them on the focaccia (together with some pitted olives if you want). Bake for about 35/40 minutes, until the crust gets a nice golden-brown color.

Focaccia barese is delicious eaten alone, but even tastier if served together with fresh or semi-hard cheese, such as provolone cheese, sliced meats, or some veggies such as roasted bell peppers for example.