Focaccia - Italian Flat Bread

Focaccia - Italian Flat Bread. 
Peasant, Rustic, Country, Simple. No matter what you call it or how you slice it, delicious. The beautiful thing about focaccia is that you can put whatever you want on top just so long as it does not include sauce which then makes it a pizza, usually. Traditionally they are topped with herbs, like this one, or a little cheese, olives maybe some onions and peppers or olives. But herbs and olive oil are the mainstays.

At the hear of any Focaccia is the dough, home made is best, because it takes less then 10 minutes to make and it is practically free. My thought is I like to eat and I like to eat a lot, so the more I can make for less the better.

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs Dried Basil
2Tbs Dried Oregano
1 1/2 Tbs Dried Thyme.
Salt and Pepper

Start with a ball of pizza dough your own or already made from the supermarket or bakery but NEVER that pre-cooked stuff in plastic. If you're buying pre-made dough the ingredient list should be short and simple, Flour, Yeast, Water, Salt. 

Stretch your dough out on either a rectangular cookie sheet or a round pizza pan until it is no more than 1/8" thick. Work it out with your fingers to a mostly uniform thickness all the way to the edges this is a bread not a pizza so we don't want a thick crust on the outside edges. 

Add about 2 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and spread that around the top of the dough. Yes, Extra Virgin makes a difference here because it is part of the flavor of the focaccia. I use dried herbs here but you can substitute fresh if you want. Start with Basil 2 - 3 tablespoons spread evenly. The same for Oregano and about half as much Thyme. Finish off with a large pinch of either preferably kosher salt or if you want a lower sodium option coarse ground sea salt and a nice pinch of black pepper both evenly distributed.

Cook it in a 450 degree oven until the bottom is golden brown that I like to finish it under the broiler to get some color on top. This is optional but it's my blog and my preference. Once it's done let it cool and cut it into individual portions about 2 inches square but please don't obsess about shape or size this is about eating not displaying it in a museum.