# Sourdough 101: The Easiest Focaccia Recipe Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uEKa3xmMPo Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/2uEKa3xmMPo Generated: 2025-11-21T00:04:05.136+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview The creator successfully bakes an incredibly flavorful and airy sourdough focaccia using a low-maintenance recipe, which then serves as the base for an impressive sandwich featuring homemade stracciatella cheese, mortadella, pesto, and arugula, all assembled after the bread has cold-proofed overnight. **Key Points:** - The focaccia recipe is touted as one of the easiest and most entry-level sourdough breads possible, requiring minimal active time. - The initial dough mixing involves room temperature water (440g), 100g of active sourdough starter, King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, and 8g of kosher salt, followed by a 5-minute rest before mixing. - After mixing, the dough undergoes a bulk fermentation period of 1.5 hours at room temperature, followed by an overnight cold retard in the refrigerator. - The next day, the dough is dimpled into a heavily oiled metal baking pan (ceramic or glass pans are less ideal due to heat retention), topped with more olive oil and flaky sea salt, and baked at 400°F for 30-35 minutes. - The homemade stracciatella cheese is made by tearing fresh mozzarella, softening it with cold heavy cream, and seasoning with salt, resulting in a creamy, delicious filling. - The final sandwich assembly layers pesto, arugula, mortadella (sliced paper-thin), and the creamy stracciatella onto the golden-bottomed focaccia. - The finished focaccia is described as soft, bouncy, having a beautiful golden bottom from the oil, and possessing a pleasant sourdough tang enhanced by the wheat grain flavor. ![Screenshot at 00:43: The creator demonstrates the initial steps of the recipe, placing a mixing bowl on a digital scale and zeroing it out after taring the bowl, before adding 440 grams of room temperature water.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-00-43.png) **Context:** The video provides a comprehensive tutorial on making sourdough focaccia, emphasizing its ease of preparation for beginners, followed by an assembly demonstration for a gourmet sandwich using the resulting bread. The creator uses a sourdough starter for leavening and stresses the importance of long, cold fermentation for flavor development. The sandwich preparation showcases premium Italian ingredients like mortadella and fresh stracciatella cheese, which the creator also briefly explains how to make at home. ## Detailed Analysis The video details how to create an easy sourdough focaccia, which is then used to construct a gourmet sandwich. The process begins by activating the sourdough starter (100g) with 440g of room temperature water and 8g of kosher salt, followed by mixing in King Arthur All-Purpose Flour. After a brief 5-minute rest, the ingredients are mixed, and the dough rests for 1.5 hours before being covered and cold-proofed overnight. The next day, the heavily oiled metal baking pan is prepared with olive oil, and the dough is transferred, dimpled, drizzled with more olive oil, sprinkled with flaky sea salt, and baked at 400°F for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on top and bottom. The creator then prepares the sandwich filling, which includes homemade stracciatella (made by softening fresh mozzarella with cold heavy cream and seasoning it), pesto, thin-sliced mortadella, and arugula. The sandwich is assembled on the focaccia, which has a wonderfully airy and soft crumb structure. The creator highly recommends making the stracciatella at home, noting that the cold fermentation of the bread contributes significant flavor complexity, making the resulting sandwich exceptionally good. ### Focaccia Dough Preparation - Measure 440g room temperature water and 100g active starter into a tared bowl; add 8g kosher salt and flour; mix lightly; let rest 5 minutes before mixing thoroughly; cover and cold retard overnight. ### Focaccia Baking - After retarding, stretch the dough into a heavily oiled metal pan; dimple and top with olive oil and flaky sea salt; bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes for a golden crust and bottom. ### Stracciatella Cheese Preparation - Tear fresh mozzarella into small pieces; combine with cold heavy cream and salt; mix until creamy and delicious. ### Sandwich Assembly - Slice the focaccia horizontally; spread one side with pesto, layer with mortadella (sliced paper-thin), arugula, and top generously with the prepared stracciatella cream. ### Taste Test and Conclusion - The finished sandwich is presented, showing a beautiful crumb structure; the creator confirms the bread is soft, bouncy, and flavorful, concluding that the recipe is highly successful and the sandwich requires no further additions. ![Screenshot at 00:00: The chef stands in his kitchen, ready to begin the focaccia recipe demonstration.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-00-00.png) ![Screenshot at 00:43: The chef demonstrates using a food scale to accurately measure the water \(440g\) for the dough, emphasizing the importance of weighing ingredients.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-00-43.png) ![Screenshot at 01:19: The chef mixes the wet and dry ingredients by hand in a metal bowl until everything is hydrated and combined.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-01-19.png) ![Screenshot at 03:36: The next day, the focaccia dough has proofed, and the chef prepares the metal loaf pan by generously coating it with olive oil.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-03-36.png) ![Screenshot at 08:37: The finished focaccia loaf is shown out of the pan, displaying a beautiful golden-brown top with distinct dimples.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/2uEKa3xmMPo/00-08-37.png)