No Knead Potato Focaccia Recipe
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No knead focaccia with pillowy soft mashed potato clouds throughout the dough, finished with rosemary and a paper thin layer of potato slices that get golden crispy and divine during baking. In other words, a heavenly giant gnocchi! Easy, simple, divine potato bread!
No Knead Potato Focaccia Recipe
This easy no knead focaccia bread is topped with savory paper thin potato slices, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt flakes and fragrant rosemary for an extra burst of flavor. No special shaping skill required for this foolproof recipe. It’s like potato bread and this Italian focaccia had a perfect baby, a recipe to be passed down for generations.
The potatoes get perfectly golden crispy during baking while the bread itself stays fluffy and moist thanks to the amazing mashed potato dough. Make it saucy by dipping in our internet famous Arrabiata sauce, San Marzano marinara or Zacusca.
Perfect for making focaccia sandwiches, to be slathered with basil pesto and filled with fresh heirloom tomatoes, olives and this dairy free mozzarella. It’s the bread you dream of in the middle of the day when you crave a slice of pure comfort.
Use the leftovers to make a pizza topped with our thick and jammy tomato arrabbiata sauce and thinly sliced scallions. It’s the simplicity of the toppings and the perfect savoriness of it all that makes this recipe memorable and stand out from all the rest.
The Mashed Potato Dough
Leftover olive oil mashed potatoes are great for this recipe. If making from scratch start with one pound golden potatoes rinsed and diced and boiled in plenty of salted water until soft. Drain well and mash until smooth and creamy with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast. Use one cup for the dough and enjoy the rest. Alternatively just boil a couple of large potatoes, mash and mix into the dough.
The Toppings
Staying true to the idea of potato bread I used paper thin slices of golden potatoes layered over the top of the dough. However this is where you can get as creative as you like and go for different veggies, roasted cherry tomatoes, thin slices of fresh fennel, olives, marinated roasted sweet cherry peppers, artichoke hearts, whatever you fancy.
Make Ahead Overnight Focaccia
A great recipe to prep ahead and refrigerate overnight for a cold slow rise. Bring the dough out to room temperature and transfer to the baking pan a couple of hours before you are ready to bake it. Add your toppings before baking.
Tips + FAQ
- Storage + Reheating – Keep at room temperature wrapped in parchment paper for a couple of days or refrigerate any leftovers in lidded glass containers for up to a week. To reheat place the slices under the broiler or toaster oven for 2 to 3 minutes until the top is crispy.
- Can I Make it Oil-Free? – You sure can! I used a tiny amount of olive oil to prevent sticking and lightly brushed the top of the potatoes to get that golden crisp potato chip texture. It’s totally fine to omit it.
- How to make it extra fluffy? – Because of the mashed potatoes in the dough this is a super fluffy bread just like a gnocchi. The idea is to not overmix the dough and give it time for the gluten strands to develop and spring back up once transferred to the pan for the second rise.
- The Baking Pan – I love using a springform pan here not just because it’s super easy to work with, but the golden outer edges you achieve with this are divine.
how to make no knead potato focaccia bread
No Knead Potato Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1.25 cups warm water
- 2 tsp active dry yeast (or 1. 1/4 oz package)
- 1 golden potato thinly sliced
- 1 sprig rosemary leaves only
- Sea salt flakes
- Black pepper to taste freshly cracked
- Olive oil as needed
Instructions
- Combine the warm water and the yeast. Set aside.1.25 cups warm water, 2 tsp active dry yeast
- To a large bowl add the flour, salt and mashed potatoes and give it a good mix. Add the water yeast mixture and combine with the flour until a shaggy sticky dough forms. Drizzle a little olive oil around the sides of the bowl to prevent sticking.2.5 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup mashed potatoes, Olive oil as needed, 1 tsp sea salt
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or parchment paper and a tea towel then place in a draft free area between 75 - 78”F degrees for 2 to 3 hours until almost doubled in size. (The cold oven is a great place for this). (If you like you can also place it in the fridge overnight for a slow rise then bring to room temperature for 1 or 2 hors before baking).
- Prepare a 9 inch spring form pan lined with parchment paper. Very lightly oil the sides of the dish then place it on a baking sheet.Olive oil as needed
- Dump the focaccia dough into the spring form pan. Use your hand and press the top of the dough to deflate it and create dimples. It will be sticky, just roll with it! Cover again and allow it to rise a second time for about one hour or so; again timing is forgiving, I just want the dough to spring back and get fluffy.
- Meanwhile preheat your oven to 400”F.
- Scrub and rinse a golden potato and using a mandoline slicer (with a hand guard) thinly slice the potato on the thinnest paper thin setting. Place the slices in a bowl and cover with cold water. Transfer the potato slices to a lint free tea towel and dry as much of the moisture as possible but don’t stress too much about it.1 golden potato
- Place the slices of potatoes on top of the focaccia dough overlapping each other. Sprinkle with the rosemary leaves, freshly cracked black pepper (a pinch of red chili flakes if you fancy some heat) and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the top with a good pinch of sea salt flakes and place in the preheated oven 35 minutes until golden brown on top.1 golden potato, 1 sprig rosemary, Sea salt flakes, Olive oil as needed, Black pepper to taste
- Transfer the bread to a cooling rack for a good 15 minutes. Run a butter knife alongside the spring form pan to release any dough that might have stuck. Open the spring form pan and remove. (The sides of the focaccia should look beautifully golden brown with a perfect crispness while the center is fluffy and moist from the mashed potatoes.)
- Slice into wedges (using a bread knife is best) and serve with a side of basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto, tapenade, thick tomato sauce or roasted veggie spread.
Notes
- Storage + Reheating - Store at room temperature wrapped in parchment paper or in lidded glass container and reheat under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get the top crispy.
- Pan Size - To make a thinner focaccia you can use a rimmed baking sheet instead of the spring form pan, stretch the dough to the sides of the pan, make dimples, drizzle with olive oil and check for doneness at the 20 minute mark.
Nutrition
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This is a fabulous focaccia. However it’s not a dry crumb dough if anyone is expecting that. The crispy thin slices of potato topping together with the rosemary is the cherry on top. I love the idea of using my spring form pan, make everything so smooth and easy to work with. A real keeper and a unique twist on all the other focaccia recipes out there. Thank s for sharing.