Mediterranean Olive Bread
 
 
Author:
Recipe type: Breads
Ingredients
  • 3 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting your work surface
  • 1 pack Yeast
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • 1½ cups warm water
  • 1¾ cups mixed olives, pitted and roughly chopped
  • 1 T. olive oil to coat the resting bowl
  • cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
  1. Lay a clean kitchen towel on a cookie tray and dust liberally with corn meal. Set aside with another towel beside it. You will also need a large dutch oven or heavy ceramic pot with a lid
  2. Combine the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl
  3. Add the warm water and gently mix together with your hands until the dough starts to come together
  4. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead very gently into a ball shape
  5. Coat the bowl with the olive oil and return the dough into the center of it
  6. Cover and seal well with plastic wrap. Let it sit until it doubles in size
  7. Once it has risen, take it out of the bowl and lay it on your table. Roughly press the dough into a flat circle and sprinkle about half of the olives on top.
  8. Fold the dough over on itself, hiding the olives and press down again to form a flat shape
  9. Lay the rest of the olives onto the dough and fold again, this time forming another ball shape.
  10. Lay the dough onto the cornmeal dusted towel, seam side down
  11. Dust the top of the dough with some extra cornmeal and cover with the second towel
  12. Let rest until it's almost doubled in size again
  13. Watch it closely and when you see that it's almost ready, preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place the empty pot into it
  14. When the oven has reached it's temperature, take off the top towel and using a sharp serrated knife, cut two slits across the top of the dough
  15. Take the pot out of the oven and very carefully lift and drop the bread into the pot
  16. Place the lid on and put it back into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes
  17. After 30 minutes, take the lid from the pot and bake for a further 20-30 minutes and the crust is golden and crispy.
  18. Let cool before slicing
Notes
Rising times may vary due to environment and temperature of the surroundings. Heat will speed up the process, so small warm areas are great for letting the bread rise. enjoy!
Recipe by Tracy Hensel at https://www.tracyhensel.com/mediterranean-olive-bread/