Nori Seaweed Foccacia Recipe

This Nori Foccacia Bread recipe was a surprising success for me! I hand-harvested some purple nori seaweed (Porphyra purpurea) here in Cornwall during Winter. Its delicate texture got me thinking that it might work well as as raw ingredient in bread. Indeed, it gave a subtle flavour and went down really well with everyone on my seaweed foraging course.
There are around 6 varieties of nori/laver in the UK, each with slightly different qualities, colour and texture. I've previously made swirled laver bread several times and nori, buckwheat and rye crackers.
I've also been wanting to use Dove's Gluten-free Bread flour for a while. So I took this as an opportunity to combine both experiments. I love making ordinary bread and kneading by hand, but sometimes participants on my foraging courses are gluten-intolerant. Making gluten-free bread is a totally different experience! If you're gluten-free you might want to also check out my Dulse Soda Bread recipe.

How to Make Gluten-free Nori Foccacia
Foccacia bread is rich in olive oil, giving it a wonderful texture and flavour. This recipe uses 90 millilitres (6 tbsp) of olive oil, making a perfect gluten-free foccacia! Gluten-free flour needs longer to rise, as the gluten isn't present to activate the yeast, making this the perfect overnight-rise bread too.

Ingredients
- 20 g chickpea flour (gram flour) + 60 ml water
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 500 g Doves gluten-free flour
- 1 (tight) handful of dried purple nori (Porphyra purpurea), chopped
- Large pinch of good sea salt
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 dessertspoon dark brown sugar
- 400 ml warm water
- 2 tsp quick yeast
- 1 tsp ground/flaked nori
In a large mixing bowl combine the chickpea flour, vinegar and water and blend well. Add the dried ingredients with the exception of the sugar. Measure out the water and sprinkle in the yeast and sugar and leave for a few minutes to activate.
Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C and bake for 55 - 60 minutes. Remove from the tin and allow to cool. The result is a slightly grainy, slightly moist loaf with a lovely crispy outer. It is very more-ish and went down a treat and was more popular than my wheat nori bread that I made just in case…

I run seaweed courses throughout the year where I make and share homemade tasters incorporating seaweeds, like this bread. Do let me know if you try the recipe!
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Tags: edible seaweed, gluten-free bread recipe, Laver, nori, porphyra, porphyra purpurea, seaweed bread, winter seaweeds