Wholemeal Focaccia {With Rosemary}

This Wholemeal Focaccia is an easy and quick side that goes with so many things. We've always loved Focaccia and when we started eating Clean I stopped making bread recipes for a while. Wholemeal flour breads can be a little denser than white flour breads, but I put this recipe together after making some successful Wholemeal muffins and the result was great! We've been making (and eating!) this Wholemeal Focaccia for ages now: if you're looking to Clean up the breads you make, try this, it's a fully kid approved rather moorish delight!

Wholemeal Focaccia

Despite the fact I've cut this Focaccia for the photos, I have to confess we usually treat this as a tear and share kinda thing, meaning I wouldn't normally bother to neatly slice it, instead allowing the kids to rip it apart with their bare hands! Wild, huh :)

Having Italian roots, Focaccia happens to go extremely well with pasta to be used to mop up all those delicious sauces, although I have to say, if you've not tried dipping Focaccia into some Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar, do try it, for something so simple, it's a show stopper. The oil and vinegar won't combine as you'll see from the picture, so dip the bread in and get a little of both soaked up and eat. It's probably my favorite Summer snack :)

How Is Focaccia Different From Bread?

Focaccia is an oven baked bread and the main difference is that it's a flat bread, and whilst it does rise, it's not got the same rise as a traditional loaf of bread. It's almost like a pizza dough really, just thicker.

Most of the time Focaccia's used as a side to a meal, and this Focaccia 's made with Wholemeal flour which although is not the usual way to make it, but using a healthier flour means we can still enjoy this yummy bread.

Why Use Wholemeal Flour

I use wholemeal flour simply because it's healthier. It's not perfect, but eating Clean in our family means making changes so that it's doable and isn't another fad diet. It's easy to get a bit carried away when you change the way you eat, and having recipes like this Focaccia mean you can make small changes whilst still enjoying the foods you used to love.

I have also made this with Buckwheat, and Einkorn flours and both of them work well. You can read about the different types of flour here find one that's right for your family.

What To Eat With Focaccia

As I said, I really like this with Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar, as do my kids! However, it's also good with pretty much anything that has a sauce. These meals are some that are especially good with this bread:

• Ham and mushroom pasta
• Chicken and spinach Fettuccine
• Yummy spaghetti for kids
• Oven baked Italian chicken

More Bread Based Recipes

• Clean eating garlic bread
• Sweetcorn bread
• Clean eating classic banana bread
• Classic blueberry bread

How To Make Wholemeal Focaccia

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Wholemeal flour You can also use Buckwheat or Einkorn
• 1¼ Cups Water Warm, not hot
• 2 tsp Dried yeast The small packets!
• 1 tbsp Rosemary
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Garlic (optional) Thinly cut to scatter on top

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 190°
• Prepare a pan for baking the Focaccia. Rub a little Olive oil around the pan to stop the dough sticking
• In a large bowl, combine the flour and yeast with the sea salt
• Slowly add the warm water and mix well to form a dough. This will take between 5-10 minutes, and the dough needs to be really well combined
• Cover the dough with food cover (clingfilm) and leave to prove for at least an hour
• Take the dough and flatten it in the pan. Drizzle the Olive oil on top of the bread and then scatter the Rosemary and garlic (if using)
• Pop the bread into the oven for 40-45 minutes, until cooked through and golden on top

Wholemeal Focaccia Recipe