Spoon measure 5 cups of flour, a heaping tbsp of quick-rise yeast, and 2 tsp of salt into a large mixing bowl and give it a stir.
Add 2 1/3 cups of cold water.
Stir until you have a wet clumpy dough with no dry flour showing.
Cover with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 6-8 hours.
Bake the Bread
After 6-8 hours, your dough will have more than doubled in size. At this point turn your oven to 400° F and rub the bottom of a cookie sheet with 2 tbsp of olive oil.
Pour the risen dough onto the oiled cookie sheet. (You may need a rubber spatula to help scrape it out of the bowl.
Dip your fingertips in olive oil so they don't stick to the dough, spread the dough out flat, and use your fingertips to make small divots on the top of the dough.
Drizzle with 2 more tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary and salt for traditional focaccia or decorate with sliced vegetables for bread art.
Bake for 38-40 minutes at 400° F (202° C) until slightly golden brown and sprinkle with a little more coarse salt.
Cut into squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter and serve hot.
Notes
Spoon measure the flour. This means to fill your measuring cups with flour that has been fluffed up a little and use a spoon to fill your measuring cups without packing it down.
You can bake the dough once the dough has at least doubled in size and has lots of bubbles in it.
The warmer your house is when the dough is rising, the sooner you can bake it. It takes about 8 hours at 68° F (20° C) or only about 6 hours at 72° F (22.2°C). If you are baking this on a cold winter's day and your house temperature is below 68° F (20° C), it may take as much as 10 hours to rise.
If you want to make this bread in the morning or for lunch, you can make it the day before and then keep the risen dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking.
You can use active dry yeast if that is the only thing you have, but it will need to be dissolved in the water instead of adding it to the dry flour.