Olive Bread with herbs

When I first wrote about the wonderful no-knead bread dough that waits patiently in the fridge for whenever you need it, I promised you variations like this delicious olive-bread with herbs. It can be a quick snack on its own. If you have 3 minutes more you can also make a perfect sandwich or bruschetta with:

• Feta and tomato or
• Cheese spread and red peppers or even
• Kefir cheese with grilled vegetables

Follow the instructions for the basic dough, which you can keep 10-14 days in the refrigerator. When you want to make some for olive bread, you take the amount you need, roll it out, add your filling and roll it back again. Fold the edges, let it rise and it’s ready to bake! It shouldn’t take you more than five minutes.

See the detailed instructions here:

Ingredients

• No-knead dough that has fermented for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator
• Half a cup of Kalamata or green pitted olives, sliced in half or in slices
• 1-2 pinches of oregano

Every time you want to make bread, you first prepare a piece of parchment with a little flour on your counter. Preheat your dutch oven with the lid on at 230 C. Take the dough out of the fridge. Sprinkle with a little flour, so that the dough does not stick to your hands. Pull out a piece of dough about half a kilo. As the dough is very elastic, it helps to cut it with the kitchen scissors.

Place it on the floured surface and very quickly fold the edges towards the center, going around to form a ball. Turn the ball over with folds under it and sprinkle with flour.

The dough is very soft. So, roll it out gently into an oblong shape, approximately 2-3 cm thick.

Spread the olives and oregano all over the surface.

Roll up the dough carefully, without pressing it too hard.

Fold the edges of the roll inward and turn it over with the folds downwards.

Turn the loaf with your hands around the sides, to give it a round shape again and let it rise for 40′.

Before baking your loaf, slash a deep cross into the dough with a sharp bread knife and sprinkle with flour. Prepare the spot where you will place the hot dutch oven and make room for the hot lid next to it. Take the pot out of the oven using gloves. Set it down in a safe place, take off the lid and leave one glove on the lid (otherwise I tend to forget how hot it is and grab the lid with bare hands). Holding the parchment paper taut with both hands, transfer the loaf as it is into the center of the dutch oven carefully. Use GLOVES to cover it and put it back in the oven.

Bake covered for 20′ and for a further 10 minutes without the lid. If you are making a larger loaf, adjust the baking time by 5′. The maximum baking time, if you use all the dough, is 30 ‘ covered and 20 ‘ without the lid.