Background
Some of the things I miss the most as a gluten-less glutton would have to be proper Italian pizza (thin and crispy around the edges, stretchy but still with bite in the middle), focaccia (salty, rosemary crunch on the outside, light and spongey on the inside) and pasta (particularly long, luscious strands of linguine or spaghetti swathed in some kind of sauce). And how I rue that I cannot savour the homemade wild mushroom tagliatelle or devour the melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin and truffle ravioli at our 'hood Italian. So, in a bid to silence my moans and in part solve the problem, my other half booked me onto a gluten free Italian cookery class in Marylebone’s Cucina Caldesi. This was taught by chef, food writer and teacher Adriana Rabionovich who, inspired by her daughter being diagnosed with coeliac’s disease at 18 months, has been teaching gluten free techniques for many years. The day began with learning how to make a focaccia and pizza base recipe – both comprised of the same ingredients. What surprised me was the use of ground almonds in the mixture – something I never would have thought of adding to a savoury bread recipe. Adriana explained that the almonds allow more moisture to be retained in the dough. The trick with this recipe is precision -measure out your ingredients to a T as a couple of grams over or under can make or break the correct crust or crunch. The great thing about making focaccia is that unlike most other breads it only needs about 15 minutes to rise, so you can have it ready in time to mop up your sauce.
Ingredients
- 110g gluten free flour (Doves Farm)
- 220g corn flour (or potato flour)
- 55g ground almonds
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp sugar
- 14g quick active dry yeast
- 350ml tepid water (heat to blood temperature)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- fresh rosemary
- sea salt
- olive oil
- freshly grated lemon zest
- whatever topping you desire
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250ºC. Place a baking tray upside down in the oven and leave to heat for at least 30 minutes.
- Combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl gluten free flour, corn flour, ground almonds, salt, xanthan gum, sugar and yeast.
- Mix well with a whisk to make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add the oil followed by the water.
- The water should be on the hot side of tepid- not boiling or so hot that you can’t dip your finger in without burning yourself. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast and if it is too cold it may not activate the yeast and the bread won’t rise.
- Mix the dough with a wooden spoon. It should come together and should be soft but still a little wet. If it seems dry add a little more water but don’t overdo it.
- Beat with a wooden spoon for about a minute until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a piece of silicone treated baking paper. Dip your hand in cold water and press the dough out into a flattened shape which is even in depth.
- Leave to rise for about 15 minutes. Dip your fingers in cold water and make indentations throughout the dough.Drizzle with some olive oil and scatter with freshly chopped rosemary, sea salt and some freshly grated lemon zest. Leave the dough to rest for 5 minutes before placing in the oven.
- Place the focaccia (using a pizza peel or a rimless baking sheet) in the oven, still on the baking paper, directly onto the hot baking tray in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.
