Olive fougasse
Use basic bread recipe below
| Ingredients |
| Black olives |
| Green olives and air dried tomatoes |
Method
- Flatten the dough to make a rectangle. Make 4 diagonal cuts almost to the edge, then pull and stretch the dough so that it looks like a ladder.
- Place on a greased baking tray. Cover as before and leave to rise in a warm place for 35 – 45 minutes until well risen.
- Heat the oven to 200ºC.
- Brush the loaf with oil (press green olives and tomatoes into the bread) and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden. Place on a wire rack to cool.
Basic bread dough
| Ingredients | |
| 630g | cake wheat flour |
| 10g | instant yeast |
| 10ml | salt |
| 10ml | sugar |
| 375ml | lukewarm water |
| 60ml | olive oil |
Step by step how to knead bread by hand
Step 1: Always knead on a floured surface. Press the dough down firmly with the palm of one hand while firmly pushing it away from you in one movement with the other. There should be a pulling action between you and the dough.
Step 2: As soon as you’ve pushed the dough away, bring it back with your fingertips. Fold the parts you’ve brought back over the dough lying on the surface. Your one hand holds the dough while the other one does the work.
Step 3: Repeat step 1 and 2 until the dough is elastic and smooth. Form the dough into a ball before placing it in a lightly oiled glass bowl to rise double in volume (40/45 minutes in a warm place). Important to cover the dough with cling film.
This is how you work with yeast
Yeast allows the dough to start rising when you’re kneading it, but it’s a living organism and grows only at the right temperature – the same as that of your body, so not too hot. If you get it wrong, you will be kneading in vain. Dip your finger in the water before adding it to the yeast – the water should feel lukewarm.
