Focaccia col formaggio — thin Ligurian flatbread with creamy cheese

Combine 180 g flour, 3 g salt, all the weighed water (100 g) and 15 g olive oil intended for the dough in a bowl. Gather with a spoon, then knead on a clean worktop for about 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Do not add yeast, baking powder, milk or extra water. Keep the separate 10 g working flour for light dusting later.

Divide all the dough into two parts, leaving a slightly larger portion for the base and a smaller one for the top. Shape into loose balls and cover tightly with inverted bowls, without extra olive oil. Leave at room temperature for about 60 minutes. The dough should relax, not rise. Do not leave the surfaces uncovered, as a dry skin makes very thin stretching harder.

Near the end of resting, preheat the oven to 250°C, conventional heat, allowing about 30 minutes to heat. Set the rack in the lower third of the oven. Prepare a shallow metal baking pan with internal base dimensions about 30 × 40 cm, suitable for this temperature. Spread the precisely weighed 8 g olive oil over the entire base and low rim; do not add parchment or another fat.

Lightly dust the worktop and rolling pin with part of the weighed 10 g flour. Roll the larger dough portion, then carefully stretch over the backs of your hands and knuckles, without digging in your nails. Make a very thin sheet about 32 × 42 cm through which the outline of your hands is visible. If it springs back, cover for 5 minutes and return to stretching rather than pulling harder. Do not add flour beyond the weighed supply.

Gently transfer the sheet to the oiled pan, covering the entire base with only a little extra dough at the edge. Lay without tension or large overlaps. Pinch any accidental tear together with your fingers, moving a little adjacent dough toward it; the base should remain sealed. Do not trim protruding pieces and do not set any dough aside outside the recipe, as it will form the thin edge seal.

Weigh 400 g fresh plain crescenza and distribute all of it in small roughly walnut-sized mounds over the base. Leave about 1 cm clear at the edge for sealing and small gaps between cheese portions. Do not smear it over the delicate dough and do not squeeze out its creamy portion. The cheese will melt and spread during baking; do not add milk, cream or other filling.

Roll and stretch the smaller dough portion the same way, using only the needed remainder of the weighed flour. Make an almost transparent sheet about 30 × 40 cm, enough to cover the cheese. Support it broadly with your hands and lay loosely on top, without pressing into the filling. Use the whole dough portion; unused flour on the worktop is not served.

Press the edges of both sheets together. Fold the small excess of base dough inward and flatten into a narrow sealed edge, without a thick rope and without trimming scraps. Pinch and tear the top with your fingers in about 6 places, making small openings over the cheese. Tear only the top sheet, not the base. The openings release steam and let some cheese escape.

Spread all the weighed 12 g olive oil over the top without pressing the brush hard. Put the pan on the prepared lower rack and bake at 250°C for about 12–15 minutes. The surface should have golden and brown blisters, the edges turn crisp and the cheese bubble through the openings. Lift a corner with a spatula: the base should be cooked, not pale and damp. Stop according to these signs before the thin dough dries out completely.

After taking it out, wait about 5 minutes, then divide the entire flatbread into 6 servings including the edges. Use a spatula to gather baked cheese and olive oil left beside the pieces on the pan and include them in the servings. Serve warm without sauce or garnish. Refrigerate leftovers in a shallow container within 2 hours and use within 2 days. Reheat briefly at 200°C for about 5–8 minutes; it may be less crisp than after the first bake.