Get excited about this dreamy rosemary focaccia bread with a perfectly crisp bottom and topped with roasted cherry tomatoes for the win! Enjoy on its own, as a side to soups or to make the perfect sandwich stuffed with my homemade mozzarella.

Rosemary Focaccia

Revisit and upgrade your focaccia recipe with this perfected rosemary dough you’ll be making and sharing for the rest of time. The perfect dough features mashed potatoes and olive oil which yields a soft and fluffy crumb between a crisp bottom and top. The tomatoes are roasted separately until they collapse then spooned over the bread just before serving, this way you get the best of both words: crispness topped with luscious jammy tomato goodness. Enjoy alongside my Tuscan white bean soup for the most comforting coziest Italian homemade dinner – not to be missed!

Focaccia Dough Ingredient Tips

All Purpose Flour – unbleached all purpose flour works perfect in this recipe although bread flour is fine to use as well if that’s all you have in in your kitchen at the moment.
Mashed Potatoes – the magical ingredient that adds moisture and fluffiness to your final crumb. You can use leftovers for this or simply boil a couple of Yukon gold potatoes until soft and mash them up until fluffy and creamy (no need to peel them first). Use your hand to work them into the dry ingredients to make sure it gets evenly distributed.
Instant Yeast – All I use nowadays, I keep it in a jar in the fridge and add it straight to my dry ingredients, It has never let me down so I highly recommend you use this one.
Granulated Garlic – I like using some here to give some depth of flavor to the dough alongside the sea salt. You don’t have to use it but I definitely think it tastes better with it.
Rosemary – Use fresh if available, I add some in the dough, some on top of it before baking and of course some in the tomato topping. It’s all about that rosemary so please don’t leave it out. Dry will also work in a pinch but try to smell its aroma and make sure it is a fragrant batch.
Olive Oil – for both flavor and texture, the fat adds to the tenderness of the final bread and makes the dough a dream to work with.
Sea Salt Flakes – or Fleur de Sel, I love adding them on top of the bread alongside more rosemary just before baking. This way they all bake into the crust and deliver savory salty magic in almost every bite.
Warm Water – I suggest warm water here simply to speed up the process of rising the dough. Any temperature will work really, however ice cold water will deliver a slow rise which is not a bad thing if you have the time because it also helps develop more flavor. So technically you can prep the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight then bring out to room temperate and let it rise for at least a couple of hours before baking it.
Rising Time – It’s important to let the dough double in size, this could take 2-3 hours depending on the ambient temperature and any draft in the room. It’s never going to be exactly 2 hours, trust your eyes to check both the size and the texture.

Roasted Tomato Topping

Depending on what’s available in your area and the time of the year, you can use basic cherry tomatoes or a mix of heirloom cherry tomatoes in different colors. Toss them together with some garlic cloves, rosemary, olive oil and pinch of salt then let them roast away @450″F until they release all their juices and start to get jammy. Feel free to let them collapse entirely and all the juices to evaporate, the naturals sugars will concentrate and caramelize around the edges and you’ll end up with a super delicious and outstanding topping.

More Italian Bread Recipes

Olive Bread
Garlic Bread Sticks
Whole Wheat Bread
Pizza Bread Focaccia
Italian Rosemary Biscuits
No Knead Potato Focaccia
Garlic Knots
Potato Bread
Homemade Spelt Bread
Italian Crusty Bread <—the Cult Favorite!

How to Make the Best Rosemary Focaccia

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