Olive bread

Description

This recipe was written by Ursula Ferrigno.

Ingredients

650g/1lb 7oz strong plain flour
7g/¼oz sachet easy blend yeast
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp olive oil
250-275ml/9-9½fl oz hand-hot water
140g/5oz pitted black and green olives, (total weight) chopped

Method

1. Tip the flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast, salt and olive oil. Pour in most of the water and work the mixture into a stiff, sticky dough, then work in enough of the remaining water to make the dough feel damp.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Add all the olives and knead them into the dough until evenly distributed.
3. Put the dough into a lightly oiled clean bowl, cover with a clean damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This should take 1¼-1½ hours.
4. Turn the dough out on to the work surface, punch it to knock out all the air, then knead again for 2-3 minutes. Roll the dough into a 60cm/24in sausage, fold it loosely in half to make it about 30cm/12in long, then twist it once. Pinch the ends to seal. Put the loaf in a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover again and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 30 mintues. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
5. Just before putting the loaf in the oven, brush with a little water (to soften the crust). Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and the base sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack.