Ramp Focaccia Bread

Directions

1. Make the sponge. Combine all of the sponge ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix together. Mixture should look like thick pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours (mixture should look bubbly). Place bowl in refrigerator overnight.
2. The next day, take the sponge out of the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temp for about 30 minutes.
3. Make your bread dough. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast. Stir in the sponge, water, and ¼ cup olive oil. Stir until everything is mixed cohesively (dough will be very wet). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.
4. After dough has risen for 2 hours, coat a high-sided sheet pan with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Pour dough into the pan, and use a spoon, or well oiled hands to spread dough to the edges of the pan. If you’re having trouble, let the dough rest for about 5 minutes to relax, then keep working it out to the edges of the pan. The dough’s wetness, as well as the oil coating the pan will help it to spread as well.
5. Once dough is spread out evenly in the pan, coat the surface with the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil and arrange your ramps on top. I arranged them vertically, alternating root and leaf sides up and down, so that each piece of bread would include both bulbs and leaves. Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour at room temp.
6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle dough evenly with freshly ground black pepper and flaky sea salt.
7. Bake bread in the middle rack of the oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through baking.
8. Allow bread to cool slightly, slice into squares and enjoy.