Name: Focaccia genovese
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 4 h 15 min
Cuisine: Italian, Genoa / Liguria
Ingredients: 500 g reinforced Italian 00 flour, medium-strength bread or pizza flour can substitute; 275 g water, cool to lukewarm; 25 g extra-virgin olive oil, for the dough; 18 g fresh brewer’s yeast, or about 6 g instant dry yeast; 10 g sea salt; 10 g malt extract, barley malt syrup or diastatic malt, if available; 50 g extra-virgin olive oil, for the tray and surface; 50 g water, for the surface emulsion; 3 g coarse or flaky sea salt, for the top

Focaccia genovese pieces on a wooden board with deep dimples and olive oil

Prep35 minutes

Cook20 minutes

Total4 h 15 min

Yield1 large tray, about 8 portions

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The dish

About Focaccia genovese

Focaccia genovese, or fügassa, is one of Genoa’s defining bakery foods: low rather than bread-loaf tall, generously oiled, dimpled across the surface and baked until the underside is crisp while the crumb stays tender. Ligurian sources describe it as a daily food as much as a special recipe, eaten from breakfast through aperitivo.

The regional formula published by La Mia Liguria uses reinforced 00 flour, water, extra-virgin olive oil, brewer’s yeast, sea salt and malt. Its method relies on several rests, gentle stretching in the tray and a final surface treatment of oil, water and salt before baking. This home-scale version keeps those proportions and stages while translating the bakery procedure to one domestic tray.

The dough is intentionally soft. Adding excess flour to make it feel dry produces a tight crumb and prevents the broad, shallow bubbles typical of good focaccia. Oil belongs both inside the dough and beneath and above it: the lower layer helps fry the base against the hot pan, while the surface emulsion settles in the dimples and creates the characteristic salty, glossy top.

The dimples are made only after the dough has relaxed enough to spread without tearing. Fingertips press straight down rather than dragging sideways. The surface is then proofed again so the dough rises around those wells instead of erasing them completely.

A 220 °C oven and a well-preheated metal tray give the best domestic approximation of bakery heat. The focaccia is finished when the top is evenly golden, the edges release from the pan and the base has real colour rather than remaining pale and soft.

Technique

Three things that matter

Keep the dough soft. A slightly tacky dough bakes lighter than one stiffened with extra bench flour.
Oil the tray generously. The lower oil layer is part of the texture: it gives the base its fried, crisp edge.
Dimple without deflating. Press with fingertips after the dough relaxes, then allow a final proof so the wells stay deep but the crumb remains aerated.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Everything needed to prepare the dish, arranged for fast scanning before cooking.

Dough

500 greinforced Italian 00 flourmedium-strength bread or pizza flour can substitute
275 gwatercool to lukewarm
25 gextra-virgin olive oilfor the dough
18 gfresh brewer’s yeastor about 6 g instant dry yeast
10 gsea salt
10 gmalt extractbarley malt syrup or diastatic malt, if available

Tray and surface

50 gextra-virgin olive oilfor the tray and surface
50 gwaterfor the surface emulsion
3 gcoarse or flaky sea saltfor the top

Step by step

Method

Mix and begin fermentation

Mix the dough. Combine water, fresh yeast and malt, then work in the flour. Once no dry flour remains, add the fine salt and finally the 25 g olive oil. Knead until the dough is smooth, elastic and still slightly tacky, about 12–15 minutes by mixer or longer by hand.
The dough should stretch into a thin film before tearing and should not feel stiff.
Give the first rest. Cover and rest for 30 minutes at about 22–24 °C. Fold the dough once from the edges toward the centre if it spreads very loosely.
The dough should relax and show the first small bubbles rather than doubling.

Stretch in the oiled tray

Oil and position the dough. Spread about 30 g of the surface oil over the metal tray. Set the dough in the centre and gently press it partway outward without forcing it. Rest 20 minutes.
After the rest, the dough should extend more easily and spring back less.
Stretch to the corners. Use oiled fingertips to ease the dough across the tray to an even low thickness. Rest another 30 minutes.
The sheet should cover the tray without thin torn patches.

Dimple, brine and proof

Make the characteristic dimples. Whisk 50 g water with the remaining 20 g olive oil. Press the fingertips straight down across the relaxed dough, creating deep, closely spaced wells. Pour the emulsion evenly over the surface and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Oil and brine should collect in the wells without flooding one side of the tray.
Complete the final proof. Leave the tray covered loosely for about 2 hours in a warm, draft-free place.
The dough should rise around the dimples while the wells remain visible.

Bake and cool briefly

Bake until deeply golden. Heat the oven to 220 °C. Bake for 18–20 minutes, rotating once only if the oven colours unevenly.
The top should be golden, the edges crisp and the base visibly browned when a corner is lifted.
Set the crust. Move the focaccia to a rack after 5 minutes and cool for another 10 minutes before cutting.
The underside should stay crisp rather than steaming soft in the tray.

Practical guidance

Serving

Serve warm or at room temperature. In Genoa, focaccia is as natural at breakfast as it is beside an aperitivo.

Flour adjustment

Different flours absorb water differently. If the dough is truly soupy, hold back 10–15 g water next time rather than burying the current batch in flour.

Make-ahead

The baked focaccia can be cooled completely and frozen in portions. Reheat directly on a rack at 190 °C until the base crisps again.

Surface variations

Onion, olives or other toppings exist, but the plain oil-and-salt version keeps the defining Genoese structure easiest to judge.

Troubleshooting

The focaccia is dense. The dough was too stiff, underproofed or heavily degassed while stretching.
The dimples disappear. They were made too early or too shallow. Dimple only after the dough has relaxed in the tray.
The base is pale. The tray or oven was not hot enough, or too little oil was used underneath.
The top is dry. The water-oil emulsion was too light or the focaccia stayed in the oven after the base had already browned.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size: 1 of 8 portions
Calories: approximately 330 kcal
Carbohydrates: 45 g
Protein: 7 g
Fat: 13 g
Fibre: 2 g
Sodium: approximately 600 mg

Estimate divides the full flour and olive-oil quantities across eight portions; actual oil retained on the tray changes the final energy value.

Allergens and food safety

Contains wheat/gluten; malt extract may also contain barley/gluten.

Allow the baked focaccia to cool on a rack before storing so trapped steam does not encourage surface spoilage.

Store airtight for up to 2 days at cool room temperature or freeze for longer storage.

FAQ

Why is Genoese focaccia so oily?

Olive oil is structural as well as flavorful: it helps tenderise the dough, fries the base against the tray and carries the surface brine into the dimples.

Can a rolling pin be used?

It is unnecessary and tends to flatten gas. Gentle fingertip stretching gives better control over the soft dough.

Is malt essential?

It is part of the regional bakery formula cited here, but a home focaccia can still succeed without it; fermentation and browning may change slightly.

Final note

What matters most

Result: A low golden sheet with deep salty dimples, a tender open crumb and a crisp oil-fried base.
Key: Soft dough, generous tray oil and patient pan proofing matter more than aggressive kneading or extra flour.