Kittencal's Parmesan Focaccia

This recipe will make the softest and most delicious foccacia, feel free to add on any other topping, like roasted red peppers or roasted garlic, or caramelized onions, see my Roasted Garlic Puree and Kittencal's Caramelized Onions you can even sprinkle with dried thyme also. This recipe makes two 13 x 9-inch foccacia so you might want to freeze one to use later, foccacia will freeze well for up to 3 weeks, but these are just so good you will most likely end up finishing both of them before even making it to the freezer lol!

• Ready In: 2 hrs 25 mins
• Yields: 2 (13x9-inch) focaccia

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 2  teaspoons sugar, divided
• 1  cup warm water
• 3⁄4 cup warm water
• 3  teaspoons salt
• 5  cups flour (more as needed)
• 1⁄3 cup  oil (use half olive and half vegetable or Canola oil)
• 4  tablespoons cornmeal
• 1  cup  grated parmesan cheese (or to taste)
•  kosher salt, to taste for sprinkling
•  black pepper

Directions

1. In a small bowl combine 3/4 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar, and dry yeast, mix to slightly combine; cover with a tea towel and let stand for 8-10 minutes or until foamy.
2. Fit a heavy-duty stand mixer with kneader hook.
3. In the stainless steel mixer bowl add in 4-1/2 cups flour, 3 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/3 cup oil.
4. After the yeast is proofed add it into the bowl with the remaining 1 cup warm water and start kneading (you might want to use the paddle attachment for this and then switch over to the kneader blade for kneading).
5. Knead for about 8 minutes adding in more flour as needed to create a soft semi-sticky dough.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 8-10 minutes.
7. Gather up dough and knead lightly for about 15 seconds so dough will come together nicely.
8. Place the dough into a well-oiled bowl (turning to coat in oil).
9. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let rise for about 50 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how warm your kitchen is, I rise my dough in a pre-warmed oven).
10. Punch down and divide evenly in half.
11. At this point you can place each piece of dough in an oiled bowl, cover and refrigerate to make later, or freeze, placing the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or more will make it easier to shape into the pan.
12. Very lightly spray two 13x9-inch baking pans and sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons cornmeal or more, or line bottoms with parchment paper.
13. Place a piece of dough in the pan, then with fingers, press out and the up sides slightly by about 1/2-inch (if the dough will not shape good, just let dough rest covered for about 5 minutes, the continue shaping) don't worry if the dough is uneven or tears a bit.
14. Cover each pan with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 20-30 minutes, or until about doubled.
15. Set oven to 400°F.
16. Lightly brush each top of dough with oil (can use olive or regular oil), then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, black pepper and Kosher salt or coarse salt.
17. With lightly-oiled fingers make indentations (about 1/2-inch deep) and 1-inch apart all over the dough.
18. Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until golden.
19. Delicious!