olive sourdough loaf
Last year a workmate introduced me to the delights of sourdough olive bread. I've been using the Tivoli Road Baker recipe book as my sourdough resource and as soon as I spied the picture of their olive loaf I knew I had to make it.
Every time I make sourdough bread I'm convinced it will be a disaster. As I'm still a novice, I find the sticky dough a bit hard to wrangle so I reduce the water quantity in the dough to a level I can just about manage. I downsized the recipe to make a smaller loaf and as I don't own a proving basket, I proved the bread in a loaf tin. The loaf tin was a bit too big for the amount of dough so when I turned out the loaf it looked a bit sad and flat.
However once in the oven the magic happened and before too long I had an pretty nice looking loaf of olive bread. I managed to exert self control and waited for the bread to cool down before slicing into it and it was just perfect!
If you'd like to make your own sourdough olive bread, here’s the recipe for you which makes a medium size loaf. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.
The marinated olive recipe makes more than you need. Just keep any leftovers in the fridge then bring them to room temperature before using.
Sourdough olive bread, adapted from the Tivoli Road Baker
Marinated Olives
125g green olives, pitted
125g black olives, pitted
1 sprig rosemary leaves picked and coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 sprig oregano leaves picked and coarsely chopped
1/2 lemon, zested and quartered
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
The day before you mix the dough, drain the olives well and put them in a bowl with all the marinade ingredients. Mix to combine, cover and leave at room temperature to marinate overnight.
Tapenade
Before you mix the dough, place 75g of olives from the marinade in a blender and blitz until you have a coarse paste. The coarse chunks will add texture and give the bread an extra olive hit. Place in a fine sieve over the sink to drain any excess liquid and then mix to combine with 100g of marinated olives.
Starter Build
40g starter
20g baker’s flour
20g wholemeal flour
40g water
Method
Around 4–6 hours before you plan to mix your dough, combine the starter, flours and water for the starter build, mixing well to combine. You will use 70g of this for the dough; retain the rest for maintaining your starter.
Dough
70g starter
250g baker’s flour
70g wholemeal flour
200g water
6g salt
100g marinated olives
75g tapenade
15g baker’s flour
15g semolina
Method
At least 30 minutes before you plan to mix the dough, combine the flours and water in a large mixing bowl. Mix them with your hands until thoroughly combined, and then cover with a damp cloth and set aside for the autolyse.
When the starter is ripe and bubbly, mix it with the flour and water, sprinkle over the salt and finish mixing the dough. I normally use my stand mixer and mix for 5 minutes using the dough hook. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, before your first set of folds
Dust the remaining olives with some of the flour and semolina to coat. This will make it easier to incorporate them into the dough and distribute them evenly. As you do the first turn and fold add the olives and the tapenade, ensuring they are evenly distributed. Complete three sets of folds, resting the dough in between each one for 30–45 minutes. After your last set of folds, cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave to prove at room temperature for 2–3 hours.
Scrape the dough onto the bench; pre-shape the dough, cover with a damp cloth and leave it to rest on the bench for 15–20 minutes. When the dough has relaxed, shape the dough as desired, then place it seam side up in a lightly floured proving basket. Cover with a damp cloth and place in the fridge overnight, until ready to bake.
An hour before you plan to bake the loaf, place a Dutch oven onto the centre rack of your oven then heat to it's maximum temperature. When it's time to bake, invert the loaf onto a piece of baking paper; lightly dust the top of the loaf with semolina then score a few times with a razor blade or a sharp knife.
Marinated Olives
125g green olives, pitted
125g black olives, pitted
1 sprig rosemary leaves picked and coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 sprig oregano leaves picked and coarsely chopped
1/2 lemon, zested and quartered
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
The day before you mix the dough, drain the olives well and put them in a bowl with all the marinade ingredients. Mix to combine, cover and leave at room temperature to marinate overnight.
Tapenade
Before you mix the dough, place 75g of olives from the marinade in a blender and blitz until you have a coarse paste. The coarse chunks will add texture and give the bread an extra olive hit. Place in a fine sieve over the sink to drain any excess liquid and then mix to combine with 100g of marinated olives.
Starter Build
40g starter
20g baker’s flour
20g wholemeal flour
40g water
Method
Around 4–6 hours before you plan to mix your dough, combine the starter, flours and water for the starter build, mixing well to combine. You will use 70g of this for the dough; retain the rest for maintaining your starter.
Dough
70g starter
250g baker’s flour
70g wholemeal flour
200g water
6g salt
100g marinated olives
75g tapenade
15g baker’s flour
15g semolina
Method
At least 30 minutes before you plan to mix the dough, combine the flours and water in a large mixing bowl. Mix them with your hands until thoroughly combined, and then cover with a damp cloth and set aside for the autolyse.
When the starter is ripe and bubbly, mix it with the flour and water, sprinkle over the salt and finish mixing the dough. I normally use my stand mixer and mix for 5 minutes using the dough hook. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, before your first set of folds
Dust the remaining olives with some of the flour and semolina to coat. This will make it easier to incorporate them into the dough and distribute them evenly. As you do the first turn and fold add the olives and the tapenade, ensuring they are evenly distributed. Complete three sets of folds, resting the dough in between each one for 30–45 minutes. After your last set of folds, cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave to prove at room temperature for 2–3 hours.
Scrape the dough onto the bench; pre-shape the dough, cover with a damp cloth and leave it to rest on the bench for 15–20 minutes. When the dough has relaxed, shape the dough as desired, then place it seam side up in a lightly floured proving basket. Cover with a damp cloth and place in the fridge overnight, until ready to bake.
An hour before you plan to bake the loaf, place a Dutch oven onto the centre rack of your oven then heat to it's maximum temperature. When it's time to bake, invert the loaf onto a piece of baking paper; lightly dust the top of the loaf with semolina then score a few times with a razor blade or a sharp knife.
Carefully place the loaf into the Dutch oven using the baking paper as a handle and place the lid on top. Bake the loaf for half an hour with the lid on, and then remove the lid and bake for a further 20-30 minutes or until you have a nice golden crust. Once baked, tip the bread out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
It's delicious as is or served topped with cream cheese and smoked trout and it also made a killer toasted cheese and tomato sandwich!
See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.
Bye for now,
Jillian
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