Rosemary Fougasse

DSC_1136

This is yet another dish I was sure I had already blogged about. I searched my blog thrice with varying number of ‘s’ in Fougasse but I couldn’t find it. So the good news is that I have a dish to post today and the not so good news is that I am getting old and don’t remember anything at all.

Fougasse is seen as a cousin to the Italian Focaccia and was used to primarily figure out the oven temperature. The time taken for the fougasse to bake would give an idea of how hot the oven is and help the baker figure out when to load the other breads in the oven. I haven’t heard of a more delicious oven thermometer. I remember baking my first Fougasse couple of years ago and it turned out amazing every single time. There was a leaf in the garden then which resembled the fougasse perfectly and I used to bake a fougasse nearly every time I saw that plant which was very often because it was just outside my kitchen window. What fun! I love baking fougasse with rosemary because the aroma of rosemary in the oven is hard to beat. But it is lovely to have it as is with a dash of butter too.

Makes one large Fougasse

Recipe adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day

WHAT WE NEED

165 gms Lukewarm water

3 gms / 3/4 tsp Instant yeast

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp Olive oil

200 gms All purpose flour

1 tbsp Dried rosemary

WHAT TO DO

  • Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with water in a large bowl
  • Add the flour and dreid rosemary and mix well to ensure no dry flour is left
  • Cover and let the dough rise and collapse or flatten, around 2 hours
  • It can be used immediately or after being refrigerated for 2 hours
  • Take out the dough and dust it with a little flour to enable easier handling
  • Flatten it to 1/2″ inch thickness and shape it like a leaf
  • Grease a baking tray and dust it with some flour
  • Transfer the dough to the baking tray
  • Using a pizza cutter or knife slash the dough through the middle leaving the ends intact. Make small cuts on each side of the large slash
  • Using your fingers gently pull open the holes in the dough
  •  Brush it with some olive oil and lest it rest for 20 minutes
  • Preheat the oven to 200C
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes till golden brown
  • Serve warm
  • Enjoy!

DSC_1132

 

This is part of the Bake-a-thon 2017

Please rate