Recipe: Helen Goh’s Fluffy Focaccia Is “Reminiscent of Garlic Bread” – but Way Better

Helen Goh co-wrote two cookbooks with Yotam Ottolenghi, but her new book, Baking and the Meaning of Life, is entirely her own. The London-based pastry chef – who was born in Malaysia and raised in Melbourne – has compiled 100 all-time baking recipes, from miso-spiked sticky date pudding to fragrant pandan chiffon cake – and this fluffy potato focaccia.

Goh never planned to join the social media focaccia frenzy. The recipe came about by accident: she was halfway through making a kale pasta sauce from The New York Times when she realised she’d forgotten the kale. Using the confit garlic and its oils already prepared, she pivoted to make a focaccia topped with crisp, rosemary-scented potatoes. As Goh describes it, the result is “reminiscent of garlic bread, without a scrap of butter.”

She recommends serving it sliced for stellar sandwiches – or “at a long table with antipasti, cold-cuts and a good bottle of wine”.

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Potato, garlic and rosemary focaccia by Helen Goh

Serves 6–8 for sandwiches, more as a side dish

Ingredients

8 medium garlic cloves (about 40g), peeled

100ml extra virgin olive oil

500g strong bread flour

2 tsp active dried yeast

20g pecorino cheese, finely grated

1¼ tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

430ml water, lukewarm

2–3 medium red potatoes (about 400g), washed and dried

1 large sprig rosemary

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Preparation and serving tips

The dough needs to be proved in the fridge overnight (and can stay in the fridge for up to 2 days), so make sure to start the dough at least the day before you intend to bake it. The focaccia can be made without the pecorino, garlic or potato topping, but they are highly recommended. The focaccia will stay soft for 2 days, but is best eaten slightly warm.

Method

Put the garlic cloves and olive oil in a very small saucepan, making sure the cloves are submerged. Cook gently over low heat for about 12 minutes, until the garlic softens and begins to take on colour. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for the oil to cool completely – the garlic will continue to cook for a little longer. When the oil has cooled, transfer the garlic to a bowl (leave the oil in the pan), and mash roughly with a fork.

Put the flour, yeast, pecorino, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir together with a hand whisk to combine, then add the mashed garlic and the water. Mix well with a flexible spatula and scrape the dough from the side of the bowl, folding it into the centre until a sticky ball forms. Drizzle 15ml of the reserved garlic oil on top of the dough ball and use your fingers to gently spread the oil all over the surface of the dough. Cover the bowl with a large plate or with plastic wrap and place immediately into the fridge to prove slowly overnight (and for up to 2 days).

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge, but keep it in the bowl.

Pour 30ml of the reserved garlic oil into the base of a 30cm round tin (a rectangular baking tray approximately 30×20cm would also work well). Using your dominant hand, smear the oil over the base of the tin – this will also oil your hand, which is important for the next stage.

Now, with the dough still in the bowl, use your oiled hand to pull the sides of the dough out and over to the centre. Rotate the bowl and repeat a few times to firm up the dough, then transfer it to the oiled tin. Turn the dough to coat it in the oil, then leave it (it will not fit the entire dish yet) to rest and relax on the kitchen bench, uncovered, until it is soft and airy with a puffy surface. This will take 1–2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. When ready, it will have expanded to fill the entire round tin. If using the rectangular baking tray, you may need to press the dough to fit the entire tray.

When the dough is nearly ready, preheat the oven to 220˚C fan-forced.

Cut the potatoes (unpeeled) into 2–3mm slices.

Drizzle 2 more tbsp of the garlic oil on top of the dough, then press your fingertips and thumbs into the risen dough a few times to leave deep, oily dimples all over. Now layer the potatoes on top, slightly shingled. Tear off small sprigs of the rosemary and tuck them into and around the potatoes. Drizzle the top with the remaining garlic oil and sprinkle with some flaky sea salt.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the potato topping and the underside of the focaccia are golden brown. Place the tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before lifting the focaccia out of the tin to cool further on the rack. If the focaccia is left in the baking tin to cool, the crispy crust will soon soften, so do transfer it to the wire rack as soon as you can handle it.

Images and text from Baking and the Meaning of Life by Helen Goh, photography by Laura Edwards. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.