Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary

A friend of mine let me borrow her Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. This book is great!  Who doesn't love fresh baked bread?  I mean really, what isn't to love?  It is pretty much perfect.  The recipes in this book are really easy.  You start with a base recipe.  You spend about 5 minutes preparing that recipe.  Then you let it rise and fall over a couple of hours.  After that, you put it in the fridge until you are ready to make your bread.  It lasts for almost 2 weeks in the fridge!  The base recipe makes 4 pounds of dough (or 4 loaves of bread).  It could easily be halved. 

So far I have made 1 batch and used all 4 pounds.  All of the recipes have been wonderful!  This Focaccia was exactly how I think Focaccia should be.  Light, airy, full of flavor.  And Really, there was so little effort in making it.  I have made Focaccia before, and I remember it being lots of work!  Not this one!

Focaccia with Onion and Rosemary
Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Printable Recipe 

1 pound dough (recipe to follow)
1/4 medium white onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbls Olive Oil, plus 1 tsp or drizzling
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line or grease a cookie sheet with a little olive oil.  You could use a baking stone instead.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off 1 pound of dough.  Dust the piece with more flour.  Shape into ball, but stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.  Flatten into a 1/2 in to 3/4 in thick round.  Place the round on your baking sheet.

Saute the onion slices in 2 Tbls olive oil, until softened, but not browned.  Place onions over the top of the dough.  Do not over crowd the dough, you will have left over onions.  Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper.  Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil.

Allow the dough to rest and rise for 20 minutes.  Place in oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, depending on thickness.  The crust will be medium brown.  Cut and serve warm!

Olive Oil Dough
2 3/4 cups luke warm water
2 packets yeast
1 1/2 Tbls Kosher Salt
1 Tbls Sugar
1/4 cup Olive Oil
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Mix yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a  large bowl that has a lid (not airtight).  I used my mixing bowl, and just fit with plastic wrap. 

Mix in the flour using the dough hook on your mixer.  Do not knead, stop when all the flour is mixed in.

Cover and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses approx 2 hours. 

The dough can be used right a way, or refrigerate in lidded container for up to 12 days.  It is easier to handle when the dough is cold.