Delicious Hearth Bread with Garlic and Parsley

I found this recipe for hearth bread in one of my wife’s cookbooks and while I can’t say I’m a domestic goddess just yet, I’m making strides in that general direction. Having tried a few recipes from here already, I haven’t been disappointed yet. Plus my wife has enjoyed everything and that’s really the most important part here. Although she did buy the cookbook… Anyway, on to the recipe!

Hearth Bread Notes

I had no idea what hearth bread was before seeing it in this cookbook. But given how its reminiscent of focaccia but with a fraction of the prep time, I’m a big fan. Start by mixing the flour, salt, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer. Next combine the warm water and olive oil and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together by hand to form a rough dough. Next, place the bowl in your stand mixer and using the dough hook, knead until dough is smooth and elastic.

Lightly coat a separate bowl with olive oil. Form the dough into a ball, place into the lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough over in the bowl so it is lightly coated with olive oil as well. (I was a little heavy handed with the olive oil.) Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to proof until doubled in size. Mine took around 90 minutes but my kitchen is on the colder side.

Garlic and Parsley Topping Notes

While the dough is proofing, prep the topping for the hearth bread. Trim the tops off of the heads of garlic but leave the cloves whole. Make a foil packet for the heads of garlic and drizzle with olive oil before sealing the foil. Bake for 45 minutes. The garlic should be mushy but not falling apart. Unwrap the foil packets and let the garlic cool. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the garlic is cooling, trim the stems off of the parsley and place in the food processor. Pulse a few times to get the parsley roughly chopped up. When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and into the food processor.

While processing the garlic and parsley, drizzle in enough olive oil to make a runny paste. Once the mixture is to your liking, leave in the food processor until ready to use.

Dough Shaping and Baking Notes

When the dough has doubled in size, punch down and let sit for another ten minutes. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Place a ball of dough onto a piece of parchment paper and using a rolling pin, roll out into a rough oval shape. Using your hands, stretch the dough out a bit more and then transfer the dough and parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover the dough with tea towels and let proof for another 25 minutes, or until dough is starting to get puffy. Using your fingers, dimple the dough all over similar to how you would while making focaccia. Pour the garlic and parsley mixture over the dough.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the bread is getting golden around the edges and the garlic and parsley mixture is starting to get some nice dark flecks of color. Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt on top. This bread is best served right out of the oven so don’t waste any time digging in!