Madrina's Traditional Focaccia Recipe

Genoa is famous for many things, such as the historic port, maritime history, the aquarium, our Fincantieri shipyard, of course, and delicious focaccia. As you may know, focaccia is a popular Italian street food that you can enjoy any time of the day, as a savory snack or even as a dessert. You’ve probably tried it before, but you cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy focaccia while visiting Liguria as it is a specialty of the region – the freshly baked aroma fills the streets with focaccerie, focaccia bakeries, on every corner.

In celebration of Vista’s recent float out at our shipyard in Sestri Ponente, I wanted to share my traditional focaccia recipe with you. It’s the perfect recipe to celebrate this special milestone. Until your next travels to see us here on the Italian Riviera, you can enjoy a taste of the local flavor by preparing our prized focaccia with my traditional recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients
4 cups flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ tablespoons yeast
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup olive oil
A pinch of sugar

Directions
Prepare the dough by mixing half of the flour, half of the water and the yeast. Knead by hand until soft, form a ball and leave to rest for approximately 3 hours.

Once the dough has risen, add the rest of the ingredients, knead until it’s smooth and then let it rest again.

Note that the rising time might vary depending on the season and the weather. On a hot and sunny day, it won’t take longer than 2 hours; on a cold and cloudy day, it might take longer.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out using a bit of flour. Then, lay it down on an oiled tray and finally let it rest for 40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 475˚F. Drizzle oil on the focaccia, along with a bit of water. Then sprinkle salt to taste on top and poke holes on the surface using your fingers.

Bake for 15 minutes and then enjoy.

We hope to see you on the beautiful Italian Riviera soon…ciao!