Pistachio and date sourdough focaccia using fresh-milled spelt and hard red wheat

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This is the first of five focaccia I'm making that will be identical except for the olive oil used.

Dough:
350g whole wheat flour
200g of 100% hydration sourdough starter
250g water 
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings
Big handful of pistachios chopped up in a food processor
Dried dates cut into smaller chunks

I started with 125g of spelt and 225g of wheat, milled twice, once coarse, then as fine as my Mockmill will get it.

 

 

Mix the starter with the other dry ingredients, then slowly add the water. This is a really wet dough, don't expect it to ball up too much. Mix for 5 minutes, then add the olive oil and mix for another 3-4 minutes.

 

Cover the bowl with cling wrap, and leave at room temperature. Do four stretch and folds in the bowl with really wet hands every 15 minutes until you feel a serious structure has developed and it passes a windowpane test. For me, that was 2.5 hours of folds. When it's done, cover it with film and put in the fridge overnight.

The next day, oil a pan with a generous amount of olive oil. Put the dough in the pan, deflating it as little as possible, then gently spread it to the corners of the pan. Cover with cling film and let it rise for 2 hours or so at room temp until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Chop the pistachios (I used a small food processor), cut the pitted dates into chunks. When proofed (I went for nearly doubled), add a generous drizzle of olive oil and the toppings. Then use your wet fingers (or wet gloves if you prefer) to poke the dates all the way down to the bottom.

 

Into the oven until an internal temp of 195-200 degrees F. It took mine 30 mins, with a pan rotation at 15 minutes. I did NOT use convection, I was afraid it would burn the pistachios.

De-pan, put on a rack to cool for an hour.

 

Great bake and love the toppings and combo of FMF.

Best,

Ian