Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Focaccia with OLYFO 2500 Years of Tradition Origins EVOO

A recipe by Chef Kate Michaels

There’s something almost contradictory about dark chocolate and sea salt focaccia—buttery, savoury bread studded with something sweet and bitter. Except it works. It works beautifully. The key is in the oil: OLYFO Origins brings a soft, buttery quality and gentle pepper that doesn’t fight the chocolate. Instead, it holds everything in balance.

This isn’t a delicate recipe. It’s straightforward, forgiving, and absolutely worth the time.

Ingredients

• 750g strong bread flour
• 2×7g sachets of dried yeast
• 50g OLYFO Origins EVOO (plus extra for drizzling)
• 20g caster sugar
• 100g dark chocolate (chopped)
• 15g demerara sugar
• Sea salt flakes

Method

Step 1: Mix the dough

Mix together the flour, yeast, and 10g of sea salt in a bowl.

Separately, mix 30g of the oil and the caster sugar into 600ml of warm water. Pour the liquid into the flour and mix until it comes together into a soft, sticky dough.

Step 2: First rise

Knead the dough in the bowl by lifting up the edges and folding it back over itself, turning the bowl as you do this. After 5 minutes, the dough will become slightly less sticky and more uniform, though still quite soft.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave for 2 hours in a warm place to rise.

Step 3: Add the chocolate

Gently punch down the dough, then repeat the kneading process for 2 minutes. While you’re lifting and folding, add half the chocolate.

Cover and leave for another 45 minutes.

Step 4: Shape and prove

Oil a 33cm × 24cm baking tin with 10g of oil, then tip in the dough. Fold in the two sides, then flip so the seams are on the bottom.

Cover and leave to prove for 1 hour.

Step 5: Top and bake

Heat the oven to 220°C.

Drizzle over another 10g of oil, then dimple the focaccia all over using your fingers. Scatter over the rest of the chocolate, pushing it down a little in places, then scatter over the demerara sugar.

Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200°C. Cook for 30 minutes until risen and golden.

Drizzle with a little more oil, cover loosely with foil, and cool for 20 minutes before scattering over sea salt flakes to finish.

The Result

Warm bread, melted chocolate pockets, the sweet crunch of demerara, and salt that doesn’t announce itself but makes everything else taste like itself. The OLYFO Origins comes through in the finish—soft, round, grounding.

Enjoy it warm. Share it. Make it again when it’s gone.

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Chef Kate Michaels creates recipes that celebrate ingredient quality. This recipe was developed using OLYFO Origins EVOO.