This gorgeous fluffy potato bread recipe comes from Hawkes Bay's Craggy Range. Their head chef Casey McDonald knows his food!
Prep Time 20 minutesmins
Cook Time 35 minutesmins
Proving time 1 hourhr
Course Lunch
Servings 4family size loaves
Ingredients
800gpotatoes
2Lwater
2kgflour
40gdry yeast
40gsugar
20gsalt
Olive Oil
125ghalf punnet Cherry Tomatoes
Dried Italian herbs
Instructions
Boil the potatoes in 2 litres of water, drain the potatoes when cooked keeping the potato cooking water. Process the drained potatoes with 1 litre of reserved potato water into very soft potato puree. (more like a potato smoothie! )
Put the remaining potato water in a large bowl and when it is cooled down to about 45 °C, add the flour, sugar and yeast. Work with a spatula to incorporate together.
Gradually add potato puree and work into a soft dough. You may find it easier to do this directly on the kitchen bench rather than in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of flour mixture and pour a little potato puree, working the well wall into potato puree to incorporate into one. Repeat the process until all potato puree is used up. Add more flour if the mixture is too wet to work with.
Add salt and knead for 5-10 minutes.
Divide the dough into quarters. Place each quarter in a very well-oiled and salted heavy bottomed pan, cover with a clean tea towel and prove in a warm place for 1 hour or until well risen. Flip the edge over so it doesn't stick.
Once proved, top with cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with Italian herbs, then drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle of good amount of sea salt flakes.
Bake at 210 °C, fan forced for 20 minutes.
Drop the oven to 190°C and cook for 15 more minutes, Flip out onto cake racks.
Serve warm with herbed butter and oils.
Notes
Remember to share this online with the hashtag Focaccia recipe nz, i.e. #focacciarecipenz