Juliet Sear's no-knead focaccia
Who knew that everyone’s favourite Italian antipasti could be baked in the air fryer? That’s right, Juliet Sear is working some magic and serving up homemade focaccia that is golden and crunchy straight from the airfryer. Perfect for those summer picnics - simply pour the balsamic and olive oil, add a sprinkle of salt and dig in!
No Knead Air Fryer Focaccia
Serves: Makes one large focaccia 30 x 20cm, or two 22 x 19cm
Ingredients
500g very strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting1 x 7g dried fast action yeast or time saver yeast10g fine sea salt3-4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the tin and to serve1-2 tsp flaky sea saltPolenta or semolina for the tin/moulds/paper (optional)
Optional toppings:Sea salt and fresh rosemaryWhole garlic clovesRosemary sprigsOlivesSun dried tomatoesMozzarella pearls
Method
1 Place the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast to one side of the flour and the fine salt to the other side then mix to distribute all the powders.
Make a well in the middle of the flour. Mix together 1 tbsp oil and about 380-400 ml lukewarm water, and then add it gradually to the flour until you have a very wet and sticky dough. Stir well with a wooden spoon then cover and leave to rise and bubble up at room temp until it’s tripled in size and jiggly! You can also do this the night before and allow it to slow prove in the fridge if you like.
2 Oil a 30 x 20cm tin and scatter with polenta. If baking in your air fryer baskets, coat with a little oil and then line with parchment paper or liners. Alternatively, you make mini rolls in cupcake cases or larger rolls in moulds.
3 Oil your hands lightly then tip the dough into the air fryer basket / tins / moulds. Brush or rub over some more olive oil and flatten out.
4 Cover with a tea towel or oiled cling film and leave to prove for about another hour or so (or slowly in the fridge) until really puffy and risen. It should be really jelly-like and wobbly.
5 When the dough is ready, preheat the air fryer to 200C (or 220C if you have an oven style air fryer and your bread is in a tin)
6 Mix together 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp water and brush this over the dough. Using your fingers, push into the dough so you can feel the bottom of the tin or basket to give you the distinctive focaccia appearance. Sprinkle over some flaky sea salt, stuff in some fresh rosemary sprigs if you like and bake for about 20-35 minutes until deep golden brown and crispy.
Depending on your air fryer you might need to flip it over to crisp up the base for the last 5 minutes then turn back over for a further minute or so.
7 Whisk together 1.5 tbsp oil with 2 tbsp water. As soon as you take the bread or rolls out of the air fryer, while still hot, drench with the oil and water emulsion and liberally brush all over. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then pop out of the tin and serve warm, with extra olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or use to make sandwiches or toasted sandwiches.
Tips: To refresh the bread pop in the air fryer on 160 for a few minutes to crisp up. This also freezes well.