Focaccia genovese with golden ridged surface, olive-oil pools and coarse salt

Fugassa Genovese

Focaccia Genovese in a Pizza Oven

Name: Focaccia Genovese in a Pizza Oven
Yield: 4 pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 940 g flour; 660 g water (70% hydration); 19 g salt; 4.7 g instant yeast; 56 g olive oil; 240 g extra virgin olive oil (dough + tray + brine combined); 40 g fine sea salt (for brine); 320 g water (for brine); 16 g coarse sea salt (for surface); 16 g fresh rosemary (optional, pressed into dimples)

Genoa, Liguria · rectangular · thick · deeply dimpled

Focaccia genovese — fugassa in dialect — is older than Neapolitan pizza and fundamentally different from Roman pizza bianca. It is thicker, much oilier, and made with a brine (water, salt, and olive oil) that is poured directly into every dimple before baking, pooling in each hollow and steaming the interior soft while the base crisps on the oiled tray. The three-round dimpling process — once after bulk ferment, once after pan proofing, once after adding the brine — produces a surface of ridges and pools. The ridges brown and crisp; the dimple bases stay moist. Genoese eat it plain for breakfast, dipping the corner into their cappuccino. This is not a topping-heavy recipe; the bread itself is the point.

What sets it apart — The salamoia (brine) is the signature — water, salt and oil poured into the dimples just before baking creates distinct micro-climates in the dough surface. It is substantially more oily than any other pizza style; that is not an accident or excess, it is the technique.

How many pizzas?

makes 4 × 420g balls
1680 g total dough

The dough · baker’s %

Flourstrong 00 or bread flour940 g
Water70% hydration660 g
Salt19 g
Instant yeast×1.25 active-dry · ×3 fresh4.7 g
Olive oil56 g

Bake

270–310°C · 520–590°F15–20 min

Place on the stone at moderate heat. The brine will sizzle in the first minutes, steaming the interior. The ridge surfaces should turn golden-brown while the dimple bases remain slightly paler and moist. Rotate halfway. Remove when the edges are golden and the base is deeply colored.

Serving

Served warm, cut into rectangles or torn. Eaten plain, with mortadella, or dipped in coffee — the Genoese breakfast habit is entirely authentic. The version with stracchino sandwiched between two paper-thin sheets (Focaccia di Recco) is a separate recipe.

Topping — scaled for 4 pizzas

Extra virgin olive oil (dough + tray + brine combined)240 g
Fine sea salt (for brine)40 g
Water (for brine)320 g
Coarse sea salt (for surface)16 g
Fresh rosemary (optional, pressed into dimples)16 g

Salamoia — acqua, sale, olio

Make the salamoia: combine water, fine salt and 20g of the olive oil. Pour over the dimpled, fully proofed dough just before baking. Add remaining olive oil to the tray edges and surface. Scatter coarse salt and optional rosemary sprigs (press them in so they don't blow off). This is bread-with-fat — resist adding other toppings; the tradition is restraint.

Ferment & prep: Mix a supple, oily dough. Bulk-ferment 2 h. Pour 30g+ olive oil into a 33×23cm rimmed tray. Press the dough in and stretch to the edges. Rest 30 min, then dimple aggressively with all fingertips. Proof 40 min until puffed. Make the salamoia: dissolve 10g fine salt in 80g water, stir in 20g olive oil. Pour the brine over the dough just before baking. Dimple once more so the brine pools in every hollow.