Black Olive Focaccia

Last Friday, I finally got around to making the Black Olive Focaccia that I promised you about a million years ago, so voila!


Having never really made bread before, apart from the occasional pizza base, I hoped and prayed that it would turn out right, and as you can see, it kinda did.
Now it's not something that I would recommend making if you don't have a lot of time, because you really need a whole afternoon to dedicate to it, but if you do I would definitely suggest that you try it (It goes really well with pasta, but is also pretty nice by itself, and gets even better when left for twenty four hours - I really don't know why, do you?)


So you'll want the recipe, because I know it's all you've been thinking about since you saw it on the list, so here goes:

Ingredients

500g/ 1 lb 2oz Strong White Bread Flour, Plus a little extra for dusting
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Easy Blend Dried Yeast
350ml/ 12fl oz tepid water
6 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
115g/ 4oz Pitted Black Olives coursely Chopped (Plus Extra for Topping)
1 tsp Rock Salt
Sprinkle of Rosemary

Method

1. Sift Flour and salt into a warm bowl and stir in the yeast.

2. Pour in the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix until a soft dough. (If dough is too sticky add a little more flour)

3. Knead dough on a floured work surface for five to ten minutes.

4. Place kneaded dough into an warm, oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm , before leaving it to stand in a warm place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. After an hour take the dough and punch it to knock the air out of it.

6. Knead the dough on a floured work surface for one minute.

7. Add the chopped Olives and knead again until fully combined. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into an oval (roughly 28 x 23cm) and place them both onto seperate pre oiled baking trays.

8. Cover the trays with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour, until dough is puffy.

9. Press fingers into dough to make dimples, drizzle over 2 tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with rock salt. Top with whole olives and a sprinkling of Rosemary.

10. Bake in a pre heated oven at 200C/ 400F/ Gas Mark 6, for 30 - 35 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and drizzle with Olive Oil and enjoy!


Okay, so that's all... Oh other than to be careful to only use 1 teaspoon of rock salt and not a tablespoon like I accidentally did, because it really does make the bread very salty, which isn't always a good thing!

So until next time,

Happy Baking!

X