No-knead foccacia

This seems to be a thing with foccacia, it needs a lot of proofing time but no kneading is required and you have a very floppy dough.

Sources: 

Marion Grasby: uses semolina as a starter: I used bread flour because she said it can be substituted and I have leftover bread flour. Bakes at 230 deg C.

SBS: proofing over several nights. Bakes at 200 deg C. Shorter resting time on the day of 10 minutes after shaping the dough.

Ingredients

¼ C semolina (I used bread flour)

½ tsp instant dry yeast

80 ml water

3 C flour (plain or bread; I used 2C bread + 1C plain)

1 tsp salt

320ml water

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

Optional toppings e.g., sea salt, herbs, chopped olives, sun dread tomatoes

1 tbsp water + 1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Prepare the yeast starter. Add the ¼C flour to the yeast and 80ml warn mater. Mix, then cover and allow to proof for 1 hour.

2. In a big bowl, add the flour and salt, and make a well in the centre. Pour in the starter, water, oil. Using a spatula to mix. The dough will be very sticky and sloppy but not like a batter.

3. Drizzle with oil. Cover and leave to proof overnight. (Fridge is not mentioned)

4. Tuck in the edges of the dough.

5. Prepare a 20 by 30 cm tin. Line with oil and then parchment. Pour out the dough and push the dough to the edges of the tin with your lightly oiled fingers. 

6. Leave to proof for 1 hour, covered. Once in a while, push the dough to the edges of the tin.

7. After proofing, prepare 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Drizzle on top. Use fingers to leave indentations in the dough. Top with whatever topping used.

8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 230 deg C for 15 to 20 minutes until golden on top.

Recipe feedback:

I now understand why Marion wrote 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp water and to drizzle that on top before adding the topping. I was overly generous by drizzling on 2 tbsp of the sundried tomato oil, and that made it hard to bake becauese the dough couldn't rise and 'dry' up to bake. Instead of spending up to 20 minutes in a 230 deg C oven, I spent close to 30 minutes and the centre (where the oil pooled) was still a bit doughey even though the toppings of sun dried tomatoes had dried to a crisp and the olives had burnt!