Italian
Silvia’s Masterclass
Ingredients
500 g of 00 or all purpose Mulino Caputo flour
7g sachet of dry yeast
375 ml of water at room temperature,
25 ml of extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling in top
2 teaspoons of salt flakes
2/3 cup of mixed pitted olives
for the glaze:
tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of water mixed
Method
In a large bowl mix together, flour, yeast and most of the water and mix with a spatulas or large spoon.Don’t add all the water at once as you may not need it all, it will depend on your flour. The texture you are looking for is a very soft dough. Add salt and oil and mix with a to combine. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for 2 to 2.5 hours or until more than doubled in size and very bubbly.
Wet your hands and lift the sides of the dough and to fold it onto itself.
Repeat this a few time to give the dough structure, This will feel unusual and sticky, as the dough it quite wet, but using wet hands will help.
Tip the dough onto an oiled tray. The size of your tray will inform how thick your focaccia will turn out. If you like it thicker, use a smaller tray (40x50), if you prefer it thinner, use a larger one. Gently press the dough into the tray, top with half of the olives, cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 220 C.
Using wet hands, gently create dimples with your fingers, top with remaining olives, drizzle with the glaze and and season with salt flakes.
Bake for 25-20 minutes or until golden.
Silvia Colloca
Silvia Colloca is an Italian-born food writer, opera singer, TV producer and host. She has authored seven cookbooks, including Silvia’s Cucina, Made in Italy, La Dolce Vita, Love, Laugh, Bake!, Simple Italian (2024), and The Italian Homecook (2025), all published by Penguin.
Silvia’s most recent television work is Silvia’s Italian Masterclass (Channel 10), with its latest season airing in October 2025. The series is currently funding for Season 4. She has also appeared as a special guest on SBS’s Mastermind in 2025. Her earlier TV credits include the SBS Food series Cook Like an Italian, which has screened internationally across three seasons, as well as Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca (SBS), filmed on location in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions and earning her a 2015 TV WEEK Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent. She also co-wrote, co-produced and hosted the ABC prime-time series Silvia’s Italian Table in 2016.
Outside of food and television, Silvia has enjoyed a career as a celebrated opera singer and actress. In 2022, she released her debut solo classical album with Universal Music, which topped the Classical Charts for over 20 weeks. That same year, she performed with Andrea Bocelli at his Sydney concert, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Inspiration Starts Here
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