Planning ahead for Valentine’s day doesn’t require booking the priciest reservation in town for the romantic evening; it means you’ve thought ahead and proofed your Ligurian style Focaccia to be baked to perfection and served with a home cooked meal for your loved one. Samin Nosrat’s cookbook “Fat, Salt, Acid, Heat” is packed with loads of fun, unique and practical recipes for any level of home chef. Her take on this Ligurian Focaccia has the specialized, additional step of a “brine” 45 minutes before cooking; a technique inspired by the salty Ligurian Sea.

Another great feature;  this recipe is totally customizable. Maybe your lover has a real hankering for roasted garlic, cherry tomatoes, or olives? Pop 'em on top to really make it shine. You could even turn your focaccia into a full on, flowery landscape with additional toppings, but you should probably just hire the pros at TSC to do that…

As you and your date sit down to a candlelight dinner, pulling out this sheet pan of this delicious, salty, fluffy, olive-oil-soaked focaccia will most definitely set the mood. Serve it on the side of your fancy soup or salad starter, dip it in a goat cheese spread, or as  breadsticks on the side to mop up your delicious pasta sauce. So, cancel the resy, clear off some counter space and break out the nice dinner candles because it’s time to show your loved one how much you really care about them with this stunning Ligurian Focaccia!

For the dough:

• 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

• 2 1/2 teaspoons honey

• 5 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 1 tablespoon fine sea salt

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan and finishing

• Flaky salt, for finishing

For the brine:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 1/3 cup lukewarm water

Additional Toppings:

• Roasted Garlic

• Cherry Tomatoes 

• Bell Peppers

• Olives

• Artichokes

• Herbs

  🥄 In a medium bowl, stir together water, yeast, and honey to dissolve. In a very large bowl, whisk flour and salt together to combine and then add yeast mixture and olive oil. Stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated, then scrape the sides of the bowl clean and cover with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temperature to ferment for 12 to 14 hours until at least doubled in volume.

  🥄 Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons oil evenly onto a 18-by-13 inch rimmed baking sheet. When dough is ready, use a spatula or your hand to release it from the sides of the bowl and fold it onto itself gently, then pour out onto pan. Pour an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil over dough and gently spread across. Gently stretch the dough to the edge of the sheet by placing your hands underneath and pulling outward.  The dough will shrink a bit, so repeat stretching once or twice over the course of 30 minutes to ensure dough remains stretched.

  🥄 Dimple the dough by pressing the pads of your first three fingers in at an angle.  Make the brine by stirring together salt and water until salt is dissolved. Pour the brine over the dough to fill dimples. Set the focaccia aside to rise for 45 minutes until the dough is light and bubbly.

  🥄 Thirty minutes into this final proof, adjust rack to center position and a second rack to the upper position. Preheat oven to 450°F. If you have a baking stone, place it on the center rack. Otherwise, invert another sturdy baking sheet and place on that rack. Allow to preheat with the oven until very hot, before proceeding with baking.

  🥄 Sprinkle focaccia with flaky salt. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes directly on top of stone or inverted baking sheet until bottom crust is crisp and golden brown when checked with a metal spatula. To finish browning top crust, move focaccia to upper rack and bake for 5 to 7 minutes more.

  🥄 Remove from oven and brush or douse with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil over the whole surface (don’t worry if the olive pools in pockets, it will absorb as it sits). Let cool for 5 minutes, then release focaccia from pan with metal spatula and transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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