Ligurian Focaccia

Combine flour, salt, yeast, and warm water in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until no dry flour remains. The dough will be wet and sticky — this is correct. Do not add extra flour.

Drizzle half the olive oil over the dough. Perform a series of stretch-and-folds: wet your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do four folds per round, three rounds over 90 minutes (one round every 30 minutes).

Pour a generous pool of olive oil into a half-sheet pan. Transfer the dough into the pan and gently stretch it toward the edges. If it springs back, cover it and wait 15 minutes, then stretch again. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof until doubled and filling most of the pan.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the surface and into any pools. Spread your fingers and press them firmly into the dough, all the way to the pan bottom, creating deep dimples across the entire surface. Scatter flaky salt. The oil will pool in the dimples — this is what makes focaccia focaccia.

Bake at 220 C (425 F) on the lower-middle rack for 22-28 minutes, until deeply golden on top and crisp on the bottom. Remove from the pan immediately to a wire rack to prevent the bottom from steaming.