Focaccia

We made this for a party, where it disappeared rather rapidly. It made a nice change from making bread in the bread machine.

It's an American recipe, so everything's in cups.

You'll need:

1 packet (7g ish) of dried yeast
4 1/2 cups strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix together the yeast, 2 cups of flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water and milk, together with the olive oil. Beat the lot together until it's well combined - I started off with a whisk, but ended up using a wooden spoon.

Gradually add the rest of the flour, half a cup at a time, until you've got a gloriously smooth, slightly sticky dough. Cover the bowl with cling film, and then leave it in a warm place for an hour or so, until the dough's doubled in size.

You rather enjoyed the next bit - punch the dough to get rid of any air, and then knead for a couple of minutes. Sling onto a large greased baking sheet (or one lined with a silicon sheet), and then stretch your dough out into a large rectangle, around 1 inch deep.

Leave in a warm place for another hour or so. I stuck the oven on to warm up at this point - you'll need it at about 200 degrees C.

Once it's risen again (you should have a pretty fat looking focaccia by now), poke some dimples in the top with your fingers, and give it a drizzle of olive oil. (You could get fancy at this point, and brush it with some pesto, or some finely chopped rosemary).

Sling the dough in the oven for 15-2- minutes or so, until the bread is golden brown. My oven's a bit fierce, so it didn't take very long.

It's best eaten straightaway, but you can warm it up again the next day (if it lasts that long).