Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia #BreadBakers

A little bit sweet and a whole lot savory, this Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia makes a great brunch, lunch or snack with drinks. 

A while back we had a friend visiting for a few days and I know we’d be out and about showing her the sights of this beautiful island. I wanted to prepare something that could be made ahead then baked when we go home. 

This sourdough focaccia is perfect for that. It has its last rise in the refrigerator and is very forgiving if you leave it a little longer before baking. 

Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia

Start at least one day ahead of when you want to bake this to allow for overnight proofing. This recipe was inspired by one on the Good Food website. I’ve since made this three times and it never fails to please!

Ingredients

For the base: 

1 cup or 240ml water

1 oz or 28g bubbly active starter

2 2/3 cups or 332g strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the topping:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 purple onion

2 garlic cloves

4-5 fresh figs,

3 1/2 oz or 100g serrano ham slices

2 1/2 oz or 70g feta

flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

freshly ground black pepper

Method

In your mixing bowl, mix the starter with the water. Stir the starter and water loosely together just to lift the starter off the bottom of the bowl.

Next, add the 332g of strong white bread flour to the bowl, and the 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

Mix it all together loosely, so that it’s pretty ragged but all the flour and water is mixed; I use a Danish whisk for this first rough mix but you can use your hands, if you prefer. I follow this up using a bowl scraper to clean round the bowl and make sure it is all nicely roughly mixed together.

Cover the bowl with a shower cap or cling film, and leave it for an hour or so on the kitchen counter. 

After an hour, remove the cover, and start to lift and fold the dough to build up the structure in the dough, wake up the gluten, and bring it into a smooth ball of dough. Literally pick up a small handful of dough from one side of the bowl, lift it and fold it over the rest of the dough to the other side of the bowl. Then turn the bowl and repeat the process, do it about 20-25 times maximum, until it is a smooth ball.

Please note: you will only need to perform this many pulls and folds on this first occasion; after this, far fewer pulls and folds will be required to pull the dough into a ball before covering and leaving it again. You do NOT need to perform 20-25 each time. At this point the dough will be at its stickiest, from this point it will become less sticky with each handling.

Cover the bowl again with your same cover, and leave it out on the kitchen counter.

Over the next few hours, perform sets of the pulls and folds/lifting and folding actions 2 to 4 more times; these do not need to be done at fixed time periods apart, as long as you fit in sufficient sets during that time, that’s the key. Aim for 4 sets in total. The dough will not be starting to grow at this stage.

Each time you perform these pulls and folds, stop when the dough comes into a ball, that is the dough telling you it has had enough handling at that stage.

Complete the final set, pulling the dough into a nice firm ball, then re-cover the bowl, and leave it on the counter overnight. This is often called the “bulk fermentation” period.

The ideal temperature for this is between 64°F- 68°F or 18°C – 20°C for 8-10 hours. If it is a lot colder than this, it will take longer, just give it a few more hours. 

The next morning, the dough should have really grown within the bowl, to at least double, with a smoothish, slightly domed surface. There should be a nice structure to the dough, it does not need to be bubbly, just grown. 

Prepare a large baking tray by lining it with parchment. 

Using a bowl scraper or your hands, gently ease the bubbly risen dough from the bowl and let it fall onto the parchment. Gently stretch it out. 

Pour over about half of the olive oil. Cover loosely and leave it on the counter to prove again for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. If you won’t be home to bake then, you can pop the dough in the refrigerator for a longer rise time. 

When you are ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. 

Slice the onion as thinly as possible. Remove the stems and quarter the figs. Crumble the feta and mince the garlic. Pick the thyme leaves off the stems. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Tear the ham into bits. 

Use your finger tips to firmly press dimples all over the dough. Toss the thyme leaves, onion, garlic, figs, ham and feta with one tablespoon olive oil, then scatter these over the top. 

Use your fingers to press the toppings into the bread a little, and spread the bread to fill any gaps. 

Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to rise for 20 minutes more until it has puffed up.

Drizzle over the remaining oil, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper, and bake for 30 mins until risen, golden and crisp on top. 

Leave to cool in the pan for 15 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into rectangles to serve. Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s the day my fellow Bread Bakers and I share our recipes, this time for sourdough bread. Many thanks to our host Radha of Magical Ingredients. 

• Food Lust People Love: Fig Feta Serrano Ham Sourdough Focaccia 
• Sneha's Recipe: Quick Sourdough Discard Burger Buns 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Seeded Bread with Tangzhong 
• A Messy Kitchen: Hot Honey Sourdough 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sourdough Multi-Grain Bread

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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