Go Back

Focaccia barese

Few recipes are more connected to the territory than a focaccia barese. This focaccia is not only the typical street food in Bari (and most of Puglia), but its smell will follow you everywhere! You can make a perfect focaccia barese following my step-by-step instructions. Enjoy!
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Leavening2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours 45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Pugliese, Regional
Keyword: Bari, olive, street food, tomato
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 500kcal
Author: Roberto
Cost: $ 1.5

Equipment

  • 1 Large bowl to prepare the dough
  • 1 iron pan (40 cm in diameter). the most important tool in this recipe!
  • 1 spoon
  • 1 pot to cook the potatoes

Ingredients

  • 300 gr "00" flour It's the most refined flour. A general purpose will go fine
  • 200 gr remilled semolina flour
  • 150 gr mashed potatoes
  • 400 ml water
  • 15 gr salt (dough)
  • 3 gr active dry yeast
  • 2 tbsp EVO oil (dough)
  • q.s. cherry tomatoes enough to cover the focaccia surface
  • q.s. olives
  • q.s. oregano
  • q.s. salt (topping)
  • q.s. EVO oil (topping)

Instructions

  • Start boiling the potatoes, peeling and mashing them, same as you would do to prepare mashed potatoes. Let me them cool down to ambient temperature.
    Focaccia barese - mashed potatoes
  • In a bowl, start mixing the flours with the yeast. I usually use active dry yeast, but fresh yeast will work the same. In that case, I would use about 10 gr.
    Focaccia barese - flours and yeast
  • Time for the mashed potatoes to come in! Be sure they are not warm, not a good thing for the yeast.
    Focaccia barese - adding mashed potatoes
  • Now add the water. You can add it all at once, it will work anyway! Mix with your hands or with a fork... I usually start with the fork and complete with my hands to work the dough.
    Focaccia barese - water comes in
  • No focaccia will be a focaccia without EVO oil. Choose a good one, it is an important ingredient, giving the right texture and taste to your focaccia barese!
    Focaccia barese - EVO oil
  • When the dough has absorbed the EVO oil, time to add the salt. Always keep on mixing.
    Focaccia barese - salt
  • You should get to an unfinished dough like the one in the picture. It is still rough, just cover it with a plastic film and let it rest for 15 minutes.
    Focaccia barese - unfinished dough
  • After the first rest, do what we call "fare le pieghe". It's better explained in the video, lol. This will give strength to the gluten network. This will be done twice. The schema is: 15 minuts rest - folding - 15 minutes rest - folding - 15 minutes rest.
  • After this, take your iron pan and grease it with plentiful EVO oil. Stretch the dough to make it fill the pan and...
  • ... let it rest for 2.5 - 3 hours until it doubles. What you will get is a wonderfully risen dough like this. Isn't it a Beauty? :)
    Focaccia barese - risen dough
  • Time to be messy now! Break the cherry tomatoes and put them as a topping. Don't spread all the juices on you, the focaccia needs them!
  • Now add oregano and salt according to taste (but don't be shy with oregano!), some EVO oil again and eventually fill all the blanks with olives. It's something your children will love doing, if you want. The final result is the focaccia ready for the oven...
    Focaccia barese - ready for the oven
  • ... that should be hot (the hotter the better). After a few attempts, my best results have been with 280 °C, for about 30-35 minutes. The final result is something that if you try once... it won't be the last! Buon appetito :)
    Focaccia barese from the oven

Notes

The crucial question with focaccia barese is: with or without potatoes?
In this recipe I do use the potatoes. They make the focaccia softer, and in my opinion the contrast with the crunchy crust is even bigger than without them. That's why my preference goes to this version. But in Bari there's a huge debate on this, and you better avoid fighting on this topic with locals ;) If you are lucky to visit Bari, just taste as many focacce as possible, and enjoy them!
And let me know in the comments if you can "taste" the contribution of potatoes to this amazing food!