Potato Focaccia

Potato Focaccia

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups water

1 envelope active dry yeast

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1/4 cup

    for baking pan

Topping:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon flakey sea salt

2 potatoes (approximately 1 pound)

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

*

Directions:

Warm 1/3 cup water to 110F.  Dissolve the dry yeast into the water and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the water and the flour., and mix until the dough comes together.  Add salt and 1/4 cup olive oil and continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. (approximately 15 minutes if mixed by hand.)  Pt the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to raise until it doubles in volumn, approximately 2 hours.

Oil a 11 x 17 baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Scrape dough out of the bowl and onto the pan and pat and press the dough into the pan to fill it completely.  If the dough resists, wait a few minutes and continue.  With the fingertips, make impressions in the dough at 2 inch intervals.  Drizzle dough with remaining 2 tablespoons oil.  Peel and slice the potatoes very thinly and arrange them over the top of the dough covering it completely.  Drizzle more olive oil on the top and sprinkle with salt and rosemary.  Allow the dough to rise again until double in bulk, about 45 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 450 degrees and set the rack in the lower third of the oven.  When dough has risen, bake until deep golden, about 25 minutes.  Check the bottom of the crust about half way through the baking time by lifting the side of the focaccia with a spatula.  If it is coloring deeply, slide pan onto another pan to insulate bottom.  Once baked, slide the focaccia off the pan onto the rack to cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature in narrow slices.