Michelle Darmody: How to bake the perfect winter focaccia

Focaccia comes from Central Italy so any ingredients you can think of from that region are a particularly safe bet when dreaming up your toppings

The word focaccia means “hearth bread” which refers to the fact that it was traditionally baked over fire.

Stuffing your fingers into warm, rising dough is immensely satisfying. Making a bread like focaccia is a very tactile process, it involves lots of teasing and flattening of the dough before adding oil and herbs. 

The thought of using yeast can be a bit intimidating but fast acting zest has made the process more manageable. You simply add the sachet of powder along with your flour then add room temperature water. There is no need to dissolve or activate it first.