Steps

• First, prepare the starter by mixing the flour with the homemade milk kefir and adding a teaspoon of honey.

  Let it rest for 12 hours at room temperature in a sheltered place with the jar covered with plastic wrap (as I always do with my leavened goods, I put the container inside the microwave, in this case the plastic wrap is not essential).

  👉 Use a container that is at least twice the size of the initial mixture because it doubles in volume during fermentation. You will notice the presence of bubbles in the mixture, indicating fermentation has occurred.

  After about 12 hours, the volume doubling will have occurred.

  ☝ If not, wait a few more hours (but I have always found the starter doubled after no more than 12 hours). In any case, if you don’t have time, at the end of the 12 hours or if you forget it (it happens!) nothing will happen if the time is extended, it will simply continue to ferment and increase in volume. 😉

  In a bowl, pour in the flour, the starter, the oil, and the warm water.

  Work with your hands and knead as you would with any dough.

  😊 If you have a stand mixer or kitchen robot with a dough hook, use them if it is your habit. Lately, I  often knead in the evening when my children are already asleep, so I got into the habit of not turning on appliances to avoid noise, and knead by hand. It gives me a lot of satisfaction, both in making and in the results.

  Let the dough rise in the bowl until doubled, it may take a few hours, in the specific case of this focaccia I let it rise overnight.

  

• Transfer the dough onto a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment paper, spread it with your hands, moisten the surface with an emulsion made with a tablespoon of water and one of oil and let it rest for an hour or two before baking.

  💪 An hour or two, it’s true, is not an exact time to the minute 😌 but you can see with the eye when the dough has grown enough to be baked 😉).

  The dough is extremely soft. Before baking, I decorated the surface of this naturally leavened focaccia with rosemary, pressing it with the fingertips, the rosemary sank into the dough. It was so delicate to touch with fingers!

  I really hope that by looking at the photo, you can understand how soft this dough is!

  

• Bake at 356-392°F for 20-25 minutes.

  👉 I deliberately used a small pan (my inseparable 9.8×11.8 inch pan) because I wanted to achieve a rather high focaccia, but with this dough, you can easily use a normal oven tray and still obtain a good thickness for a focaccia or a pan pizza.