Tutorials

Total Active Time: 9 minutes

Guidance, tips & techniques

Before you begin baking please read these essential time saving tips to make sourdough in just 10 minutes. To put it plainly, you won't be able to make this recipe in 10 minutes if you do not follow the advice on this page.

Build your starter

If you bake every day then you might not need to double refresh your starter, however if you leave it more than three days between bakes then do a back-to-back double refreshment. This is two refreshments that rebuild your starter to be robust enough to raise your bread. There are many recipes for what to do with the discard here.

Mix

This is a quick mix. Add just 700g of the water and your lively bubbly sourdough starter, (remember to reserve 50g of the water) whisk and then add the flours and the salt and mix your dough vigorously using a strong spatula for about 2 minutes. It will come together to form a stiff ball. Leave this to rest on the side in the kitchen for 30 minutes. It is a good time, while your dough is autolysing, to refresh the remaining starter in your jar and set it aside to ferment overnight at room temperature.

* Note: yes I do want you to put the salt in with the initial mix of the dough. recipes later on will ask you to hold back salt, but not with this technique. 

Bassinage

When the gluten has had 30 minutes to develop, you can begin your bassinage. Bassinage is the technique of adding water to dough over a period of time. It's easy to do.  You just add 25g of the water at a time to the bowl and squidge the dough with your hands to mix this in.  It should take less than 1 minute to mix in the first 25g water. Cover and leave the dough for another 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining 25g of water then allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes.  Again this should take less than a minute. There are detailed instructions on how to do this in the link in the steps.

Prove

Pour the olive oil and chilli oil in the tin, making sure that it is evenly distributed around the tin. Next, scatter the parsley evenly over the oil. Add the garlic, chopped chilli (add as much heat as you fancy!) and a pinch of salt. Place the dough in the tin, making sure the oil works its way up the side of the dough by moving it around a little. This way the dough won't stick to the tin as it rises. Cover with a shower cap and leave to prove on the kitchen table overnight. My kitchen is usually about 21C/70F.

Put your starter back in the fridge

Day 3 at 8 am is an important moment as both your loaf and your starter should have doubled overnight. So, before you bake your loaf in the oven, put your starter back into the fridge until you next want to rebuild it again for another bake.

Tips for baking your bread

Before baking, spray a very small amount of olive oil over the top of the dough in the tin to give you a golden finish. When you bake this focaccia, you must put the tin on a wire rack in your oven because the fierce oven can cause the parsley to burn in the bottom of the tin. Keep an eye on the tin so it doesn't burn.

If you like a crustier finish then you can also remove your loaf from the oven and if you wish, you can return the ‘naked’ loaf (without the tin) to the oven for a few minutes to create a lovely crunchy crust on the parts of the loaf that were covered by the tin.

Probiotic Serving Suggestion

I've suggested serving this with a cultured butter. It is the most delicious and simple way to eat your bread, and the cultures in the live butter may contribute to building a healthy gut microbiome.

How to Store

Once cool, store your loaf in a tin as the honey and butter can make it a bit too sticky for a tea towel. Best enjoyed within 3–4 days.

The post 10 Minute Chilli, Garlic & Parsley Focaccia appeared first on The Sourdough Club.