Greek Olive Bread
photo by duonyte
- Ready In:
- 1hr 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Yields:
-
1 bread
ingredients
- 3 - 3 1⁄2 cups bread or 3 -3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 (2 3/4 teaspoon) package active dry yeast or (2 3/4 teaspoon) package fast rising yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup very warm water
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pitted oil-cured olives or 1 cup black olives
- 1⁄2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
directions
- In a large mixing bowl stir 3 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt together.
- Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the 2 tablespoons olive oil and the water.
- Stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle a work surface with flour.
- Scrape dough out onto the floured surface.
- Dust the top of the dough with flour.
- Knead until the dough is smooth and develops small bubbles just under the surface, about 5 minutes, adding more flour if the dough gets sticky.
- Place in a clean, greased bowl, turning to grease all over.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down the dough and pat it into a ½ inch thick circle.
- Sprinkle with the olives and cheese.
- Knead the dough lightly to incorporate the ingredients, then shape into a ball.
- Pat out to make a circle 8 inches in diameter.
- Place on a greased baking sheet.
- With a 3-inch round cutter, cut a circle in the center but leave the round of dough in place.
- (You can bake the removed center alongside the bread; it will probably cook faster than the circular loaf.) Brush the dough with the 2 teaspoons of oil.
- Cover and let rise until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is a rich golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
- Cool the bread on a wire rack before slicing.
- Makes 1 round loaf.
- Beatrice Ojakangas Baking Book.
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Reviews
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I took the tips & added sun-dried tomato strips & green olives w/pimentos along with the Kalamata olives - subbing as I realized at teh last minute I did not have feta on hand. I used olive oil from the sun-dried tomatoes - lent a beautiful rosy cast to the bread. I did add 2 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten to the mix. Used my trusty ancient bread machine on raisin setting for mixing & first rise - divided dough into 2 rounds & rose them on a scattering of sesame seeds for 45 minutes. The loaves rose amazingly high - baked @ 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. These loaves look beautiful, feel soft & taste unbelievably great! I'm taking one in to periodontist's office in am when I go for another surgery - bribery works! :) Thank you Olga Drozd for a recipe I plan to use several times during the holidays! (Next time with feta!)
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Delicious! This is a full flavored bread. I made it in my bread machine and used black, kalamata, and green olives, as well as goat feta, pesto and sundried tomatoes. This is a lovely bread that I will make again, I could see it making really yummy sandwich bread as well, I'm using it with soup. Thank you!
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This bread was delicious even though my bread machine stopped ten minutes into the cycle, I had to scrape it out, put in a little too little flour and ended up with a focaccia-shaped loaf. But what a loaf! Delicious - little explosions of flavor with every bite. If you also use a bread machine, remember not to add the olives and cheese until the very end, so that they stay recognizable.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Olha7397
Canada