A soft delicious Focaccia Bread that’s made with the addition of cooked potatoes. So delicious you will be making it over and over. Perfect as an appetizer or even made into a sandwich.

Italian love their bread. My husband can’t go a day without Fresh Bread with his meal. Whether it’s to wipe up some left over sauce, or a bit of olive oil left in the bowl.

It doesn’t matter, he needs his bread!

So when I decided to try making a focaccia bread with a special ingredient, yup potatoes. I was told potatoes help to make the dough soft but I never imagined this soft and delicious.

We all agreed that we would follow the traditional Pugliese way of making focaccia and that would be including potatoes in the ingredients!

How to make Potato Focaccia Bread

Cook the unpeeled potatoes until tender, then peel and pass through a potato ricer, set aside to cool.
In the bowl of your stand up mixer add the flour, yeast, honey, salt and potatoes, start to knead.

Then add the oil, continue to knead.
Add the water in a slow stream while kneading.
Continue to knead for about 3-4 minutes or until dough is smooth.

Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic and let the dough rise in a draft free warm area for approximately two hours.

Once the time has passed, form the dough into 2-3 circles and place in prepared pans.
Make holes in the dough with your finger tips, sprinkle with rock salt, and fresh rosemary leaves then drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Eat warm. So darn good.

What is the difference between focaccia and pizza?

Some pizza dough doesn’t contain oil and the focaccia dough does.
Focaccia dough can contain mashed potatoes.
Focaccia dough has a longer rising time than pizza.
Focaccia is thicker, Pizza is thinner.
Pizza has a tomato sauce, focaccia doesn’t.
Pizza is made in a brick oven, focaccia isn’t.
Focaccia bread is baked in a lower temperature oven then Pizza.
But both are definitely delicious.

For this Potato Focaccia I decided to make two different types of focaccia. I made the traditional rosemary, rock salt and olive oil and another type that is very popular here in Italy during the summer.

A zucchini and cheese focaccia. I shredded the zucchini and the firm mozzarella. First I topped the dough with the zucchini sprinkled a little oregano and salt on top then topped it with the shredded cheese and baked it.

Yes this Focaccia could definitely give my Best Pizza Dough a run for it’s money!

More delicious Focaccia Bread Recipes

Easy Focaccia

Homemade Focaccia Pugliese

Stovetop Stuffed Sweet Focaccia

Pumpkin Focaccia with Black Olives

Thin Crispy Focaccia

Can the dough be made in advance?

Yes the dough can be made the night before and left to rise over night in the fridge. Place the focaccia dough in the bowl cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When ready to bake, remove it from the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then bake as instructed in the recipe.

How to store Focaccia Bread

Store the bread in an airtight container or bag at room temperature, it will keep for two days.

Can the Dough be frozen?

Yes the dough can also be frozen, freeze it after the first rise. The dough will keep for up to six months.

Thaw the dough in the fridge, then place the dough in the prepared pan. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.

How to Knead the dough by hand

Kneading by hand – In a large bowl mix the flour, yeast, honey and salt (place salt away from the yeast) and the mashed potatoes with a fork. Then add the oil and water, mix again with a fork, then move the dough to a flat surface and knead for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic, then knead into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 2 hours or doubled in bulk.

So if you are looking for a soft tasty Italian Focaccia Bread I hope you give this one a try, and let me know what you think. Buon Appetito!

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