Naturally Leavened Beetroot Focaccia

Place the bread flour, semolina, blended beetroot, mix until it comes together. Cover and set aside for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, add the levain, beetroot juice and salt to the bowl and squeeze and mix until completely incorporated. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, begin to stretch and fold the dough in on itself until it becomes smooth and shows signs of elasticity, this could take between 6-8 minutes.

Once smooth and elastic, remove to a well oiled plastic tub.

Pour 1/4 of the oil on top of the dough and stretch and fold all sides to the middle, flip the dough over, cover the top of the dough with more oil and parchment paper. Let the dough rest for 35 minutes and repeat this process a further 3 times, using up the remaining olive oil.

Cover the dough with parchment paper, wrap the tub with cling film then place it in the fridge overnight.

Next morning take the dough out of the fridge and place on a suitable sized tray lined with parchment paper (spray the tray with oil so the paper sticks and doesn’t move around). Dump the dough onto the lightly oiled paper and stretch so it covers the surface of the tray. Spray the top of the dough, cover with parchment paper and then a tea towel. Leave in a warm area for approximately 2 hours, or until almost tripled in size.

Preheat the oven to 260c, remove the tea towel and paper and cover the dough generously with oil, press your fingers into the dough, then go crazy with toppings of your choice.

Place in the oven and drop the heat to 240c, bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on the dough, if it takes on colour too quickly you may have to drop the temperature. These were settings for a fan forced home oven.

Brush with olive oil after removing from the oven. Let it cool down, then enjoy!