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Olive Bread, aromatic and delicious, is a comforting centrepiece for family dinners, as well as a great accompaniment for cosy evenings with friends. This is a very good and simple recipe, divided in a few easy steps. It does take time, but it totally worth it, plus no kneading require. Therefore, it’s a perfect recipe, if it’s your first bread.
INGREDIENTS:
- Green olives – 90 g
- Black olives – 90 g
- Flour – 500 g, plus extra for dusting. I use 400g of the half-white and 100g of whole wheat flour. However, you can just use the bread flour.
- Active dry yeast – 7 g (or 21g of fresh yeast)
- Salt – 1 tsp (5g)
- Garlic powder – 1/2 tsp
- Rosemary – 2-3 tsp
- Chili flakes – 1 1/2 tsp
- Fresh thyme leaves – 3 tsp
- Water – 360ml
- Extra virgin olive oil
COOKING METHOD:
- Deseed and finely chop olives, using a knife or a blender.
- Chop the rosemary and separate the thyme leaves from the stalks.
- Sift the flour into a large bowl, add salt, garlic powder, chilli flakes rosemary and fresh thyme leaves. Also, if you use the active dry yeast, add it to the bowl as well. If you use the fresh yeast, then activate it according to the package.
- Add the water and start kneading the dough only for a couple of minutes until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You can also use a stand mixer with the hook attachment, then it will be even faster.
- Add olives and incorporated them into a dough, either by kneading for a bit or using a stand mixer. Grease a clean bowl with a splash of olive oil, transfer the dough and drizzle with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 2 hours at room temperature for dough to rise and triple in size. If your oven or microwave has a dough proofing function, you can also use it. However, if you do that, follow the instructions of the device and don’t use plastic wrap.
- On a floured surface flatten the dough and start rolling from one edge inward shaping it into a ball. Dust a clean towel with some flour. Add the dough and gently cover it. Let it rest for another 35-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, turn the oven to 240C and put inside a round cast iron pan (around 23cm) without the lid. Keep it in the oven for about 35-40 minutes while your dough is resting in the towel.
- Carefully, as it will be very very hot, remove the cast iron pan from the oven and put it on the heat proof surface. Flip the dough from the towel into the pan and put the lid on. It might not always be a perfect flip, but don’t worry about it. It will not effect the result, plus it adds even more character to your homemade baking.
- Bake at 240C (without fan assistance) on the middle shelf for 30 minutes with the lid on in order to create steam and let the dough rise.
- Remove the lid and bake further 20 minutes at 230C to create that beautiful crispy golden-brown crust.
- Carefully remove your aromatic bread from the oven and from the pan. Finally, be patient and let it cool down thoroughly before cutting. Enjoy! :)
You are also welcome to share your breads and bakes in the comments below.
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