Wildflower

Sourdough Focaccia

24 hours • 8 serves

Slow-Rising Meadow Bread

Bread is alive. Your sourdough starter—a jar of wild yeasts captured from the air—is a living garden, fermenting flour into something ancient and new. Twenty-four hours may seem long, but this is the pace of nature. Dough rises like meadow grasses reaching for light, developing flavour through patience alone. Dimpled with fingertips, drizzled with olive oil, dotted with rosemary and tomatoes, focaccia becomes an edible landscape. The crust cracks golden, the interior stays cloud-soft. Tear it, share it, dip it in good oil. This is bread that remembers its wild origins, that tastes of time and care.

Ingredients

  • 500g bread flour
  • 100g active sourdough starter
  • 375ml lukewarm water
  • 10g salt
  • 60ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • Fresh rosemary sprigs
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Flaky sea salt

Method

  1. In a large bowl, mix flour, starter, and water until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest for 30 minutes (autolyse).
  2. Add salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix thoroughly by hand, squeezing and folding until incorporated.
  3. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Perform a set of stretch-and-folds: grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl and repeat 4 times.
  4. Repeat the stretch-and-fold process every 30 minutes for 2 hours (4 sets total). The dough will become smooth and elastic.
  5. Oil a baking tray generously. Transfer the dough to the tray and gently stretch it to fill the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight (12–18 hours).
  6. Remove from the fridge 2 hours before baking. Let it come to room temperature and puff up.
  7. Preheat oven to 220°C. Dimple the dough all over with your fingertips. Drizzle with olive oil, press in rosemary and tomatoes, and sprinkle with flaky salt.
  8. Bake for 20–25 minutes until deep golden. Cool slightly before tearing and serving.

Nutrition

280
Calories
7g
Protein
42g
Carbs
9g
Fat