Focaccia

We love focaccia for sandwiches. I usually make mine with pesto, tomato, and mozzarella melted in the toaster oven. This time of year, I'm adding fresh basil leaves too. My husband likes his with dairy-free pesto, turkey, salami, and reduced balsamic vinegar. This bread is also nice with soup, particularly something with lots of beans and Italian spices.

500 g bread flour
10 g salt
10 g active dry yeast
40 mL olive oil plus more for working the dough and drizzling
360 mL water
toppings: coarse salt, rosemary, or herbs of your choice

Option 1: Start the night before with a pre-ferment. This will make the bread fluffier.

Mix 100 grams of flour, 100 mL water, and 2 g of yeast together (use your stand mixer bowl if you have one, but you'll want to use a spoon or spatula to mix these ingredients). It should be liquidy. Cover and let it sit overnight.
The next morning, the mix should be very bubbly. Add the salt, remaining water, yeast, and flour, and 40 mL of olive oil to the bowl and mix to combine.

Option 2: Eat bread today.

Mix the salt and water together in a bowl (use your stand mixer bowl if you have one). Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it sit for 5 minutes or so until it is foamy (skip the wait if you are using instant yeast).
Add the 40 mL of olive oil and all of the flour to the bowl. Mix to combine.

Both Options Continue Here:

Knead (using the dough hook with your stand mixer if you have one) for 5 to 10 minutes. This dough is very sticky so if you have a stand mixer, use it. Otherwise, knead by hand and work through the initial wet stages of the dough. Continue kneading and avoid adding flour even though the dough will stick to your fingers.
Once the dough is smooth and elastic and passes the windowpane test, place it into a lightly oiled bowl and turn it around to coat the dough ball with oil all over. Cover it and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Oil a baking sheet with olive oil (optionally line it with parchment and oil the parchment). Punch the dough down and form it into a roughly rectangular shape.
Fold the left third of the dough towards the center of the dough, then fold the right third over top of that (a letter fold). Press and turn the dough 90°, then repeat this folding process (dough will resemble a square).
Place the dough onto your baking sheet and press it out flat, as much as it will go. It will spring back, shrinking towards the square shape - that is ok.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap that has been lightly coated in olive oil and let it rest 10 minutes. Then press and stretch it out to roughly fit the shape of the baking sheet. This should take a couple of minutes. If the dough really resists and springs back to the smaller shape, you can let it rest another 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
Cover the dough with the oiled plastic wrap again. Let it rise for another hour - it should double again and the dough will quickly spring back when you poke it. Near the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 425°F.
Once the dough has finished rising, poke it all over with lightly oiled fingers, pressing almost all the way through to the pan, to create a dimpled surface. Drizzle more olive oil over the dough and sprinkle coarse salt and the herbs of your choice on top.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until you get a nice golden color on top. The bread should sound hollow when you tap on the bottom and the bottom should also have a golden to medium brown color. Move the bread onto a wire rack to cool. Optionally, drizzle more olive oil over the bread.

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