Olive Bread

Olive bread is an Italian speciality featuring a lightly floured crust and irregular pores. The smell of fresh olives permeates the entire loaf while also providing for a long shelf life. An additional whiff of olive oil and fragrant thyme complete this Mediterranean taste experience. For me, it’s the perfect accompaniment to warm or cold dishes. A slice of olive bread intensifies enjoyment of a meal, awakening vacation feelings. 

Recipe

For a dough weight of 1922g / 3 pieces, each 640g or four pieces, each 480g

Pre-dough:

• 200g wheat flour
• 100g rye flour
• 150g active raisin water (yeast water)
• 150g warm water c. 20°C

DT: 23-27°C  RT: 10-12 hours

Main dough:

• 600g mature predough
• 700g Italian flour tipo 0
• 450g water c. 8°C

Briefly mix ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes to autolyze.

• 22g salt
•   + thyme

Add the salt and thyme and mix slowly for 8-10 minutes until the dough cleanly pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl. As soon as this happens, knead quickly for 2 more minutes. 

• 150g sliced olives

Slowly mix in the olives.

Instructions:

• After the dough has been made, let it rise covered for 60-70 minutes in a dough tub. 
• Fold the dough and then let it rise a further 80-90 minutes.
• Tip the dough out of the tub onto a floured work surface and divide into pieces of the desired size. Make sure you divide pieces lengthwise. 
• Preshape the dough into long pieces, pulling lengthwise to elongate them, and then roll them up to form a spiral (dragging them through a liberal amount of rye flour). 
• Place the rolled-up spirals on a round piece of baking paper and leave to proof (c. 45 minutes).
• Once proofed, place into the oven at 250°C with strong steam. After 10 minutes, lower the temperature to 235°C (DO NOT release the steam!!). 
• After baking for 30 minutes, raise the temperature to 255°C. Bake the bread at this temperature until the crust has browned as desired (the stronger the tops are initially baked, the nicer the crust coloration will be!).