These focaccia rolls are so easy to make, taste amazing and totally worth the wait while they’re proving! If you’re apprehensive about making bread, don’t be as you can’t go wrong with this recipe! If it’s the time it takes that you’re worried about then do it at a weekend when you have a little more time on your hands. You can get the other small jobs done while your rolls are proving so it’s a winner. Plus you get that amazing smell of freshly baked bread in the house – there’s nothing better than that is there!?
I must admit I don’t make bread that often, I’m not a fan of kneading dough and Dean normally does it – he finds it very therapeutic but purely doesn’t have the time as he is super busy working on his app business. The reason I’m not keen on kneading is that I’ve broken both my wrists (which is pretty bad by the time you’re 30!), but this recipe is great as I could manage 12 minutes and as I’m not using my wrists as much these days with giving up hairdressing it gave them a bit of a work out! 😂
We have had lot of focaccia whilst visiting Italy over the years and it is one of my favourite breads! They’re great because you can eat them on there own if you want just as a snack. I find focaccia has so much flavour and I love the burst of salt.
I used pink Himalayan crystal salt for my focaccia and have started using it generally now as it is much better for you than normal salt. With its delicate pink rose like colour Himalayan salt is visually distinctive and prized for its purported nutritional profile as it contains a high number of essential minerals. It helps lower blood pressure, improves circulation, strengthens bones and prevents muscle cramping along with many more benefits. It’s not expensive and I find it gives your food a bit of colour if you’re using it whole, plus I like to use things which are a benefit to your body.
You can choose whatever you want for your decoration, you might just want to leave them plain or just use some salt. We love olives and they work really well with focaccia and make them look a bit more interesting so I went for that option.
We had our focaccia rolls with some fresh pasta I made with a tomato and ricotta sauce, it was really yummy dipping the bread in the sauce. The next day for lunch I had one of the rolls with cheddar cheese, onion and fresh tomato. It was one of the best sandwiches I’ve had for a long time!
Give these focaccia rolls a go you really wont be disappointed! Store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh. If mine are anything to go by they will all be gone in a day or two!
Focaccia Rolls
Ingredients
- 500 g strong white bread flour
- 7 g yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 20 g fresh rosemary Finely chopped
- 35 g sun dried tomato (Chopped) plus extra for decoration if you wish
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra for serving
- 250 ml hand- hot tap water
- 20 mixed olives for decoration
- 1 tbsp pink Himalayan crystal salt serving
Instructions
- Put the flour in to a large bowl with the yeast one side and the salt the other side and mix together.
- Take the leaves off half of the fresh rosemary and finely chop them up. Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes and rosemary to the flour along with 4 tbsp of oil. I used the oil out of my sun dried tomatoes as this gives it extra flavour, but normal oil is also fine.
- Add 250ml of hand hot water out of the tap and mix it all up with a wooden spoon or your hands. Your mixture should start to combine now, add more water if needed to form a soft but not too sticky dough.
- Make sure your work surface is floured and knead the dough for 10 minutes, until your dough is smooth and springs back when gently pressed.
- Put your dough back into the bowl and cover with clingfilm then leave to rise for 45 minutes. Your dough should double in size.
- Take your dough out and place on a floured surface then knead again for another 2 minutes.
- Divide your dough up by cutting into 8 equal pieces. Mould your dough into a ball shape, tucking the crease in at the bottom and flatten the top, repeat 8 times.
- Prepare 2 baking trays oiled and with baking paper. Put your rolls onto the trays and cover them with oiled clingfilm. Leave them in a warm place for 30 minutes, they should double in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200C, fan 180C.
- Once the 30 minutes are up take off the clingfilm and decorate your rolls with olives, sun dried tomatoes, rosemary and rock salt. Don’t be shy – push the olives in. Try to keep them more in the centre of the roll this will prevent them from falling off when cooked.
- Drizzle with more oil (I used the oil from my sun dried tomato jar) place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Once cooked take the bread rolls out, drizzle with more oil if desired and let cool. Serve with a bowl of fresh pasta or olives and cheese. Enjoy! Store in a air tight container for freshness.
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