Olive bread with garlic and thyme

The name of this blog is Sourdough&olives.
But there is not one single bread recipe that contains olives.
Olive oil, yes, but no olives.

I got a question from a reader if If there was a recipe for olive bread on S&D, and I had to say no.
You can imagine how embarrassing that was.

I realized that I had to do something about it because I sure didn’t want
to experience that again.
So, finally, here it is.

OLIVE BREAD WITH GARLIC AND THYME

The olives play the lead role here, so make sure you choose some with good quality.
Pitted olives are convenient, but let’s face it. The taste makes nobody happy.
Besides, it’s not that hard to pit an olive.
Just crush it with the side of your hand or a chef’s knife first, and the core will come out without any hassle.
You can watch this video and see how I use to do it.

I have used fresh thyme in this recipe, but you can use dried if you prefer that.
Just reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon.

I don’t like the traditional garlic press.
Consider what Anthony Bourdain said once.

I don’t know what’s coming out of that garlic press, but it’s sure not garlic.

An exaggeration, of course, but I understand what he meant.
The taste of sulfur becomes overwhelming and unpleasant.

I think it’s better to mince the garlic and perhaps press it gently with the knife. It’s easier to control the strength of the taste that way.

ABOUT FLOUR AND OTHER INGREDIENTS 

MIXING THE LEVAIN

I used my faithful (at least sometimes) sourdough starter to mix a levain with a ratio of 1:2:2. That means 20 grams sourdough starter + 40 grams water + 40 grams flour.
The amount of flour consists of 35 grams of wheat flour and 5 grams of whole rye flour.
I use to add some whole rye or wheat to boost the levain, something I also do when I feed my sourdough starter.

The total amount of levain is 100 grams, but I will only use 80 grams in the recipe. I always make some extra levain, just in case. Nothing is wasted, though. The remaining part is scraped back into the container where I store my sourdough starter in the fridge.

It uses to take 8-10 hours for my starter to triple in size and get strong enough.
I say my starter because time is relative when it comes to sourdough baking. What takes 8 hours for my starter can take 6 or 12 hours for your starter. What I want to say is, observe your starter instead of the clock.

MIXING THE DOUGH

Someone said that you should use time as an ingredient. I think that is true, but I also think it goes for temperature.
Therefore, I use to preheat the water to 102-104°F/39-40°C before mixing it with the flour. Most of the time, I will end up with a final dough temperature around 80°F/27°C.

That will kick start the fermentation process, making it easier to calculate the time required and get a consistent result.

I let the dough autolyse for one hour before I added salt and levain.
My method to incorporate salt and levain is to knead it into the dough.
Here is a video showing how I do.

Note that olives can be quite salty, so it can be a good idea to hold back with the salt. Instead of the usual 2% of the weight of the flour, I chose 1.8% for this olive bread.

BULK FERMENTATION

Most of the time, I try to keep the temperature at 80°F/27°C during bulk fermentation. It can be a bit tricky this time of the year, but usually, there is at least one heat-generating machine working in my kitchen. I can place the dough near the stove or the dishwasher machine.

Another trick is to place the dough inside the oven with the lamp lit only.
It can generate a lot of heat, though, so be careful.

I performed 3 sets of stretch and fold, spaced out by 30 minutes, the first one 15 minutes after I had incorporated salt and starter.
I added chopped olives, thyme, and garlic during the last stretch and fold.

The total time for Bulk fermentation was six hours. That’s about one hour longer than it uses to take with that much levain.
But that’s the way it is when you are baking sourdough bread.
As I said earlier, watch the dough, not the clock.

SHAPING

I usually pre-shape the loaf. One reason is you build some tension to the dough. But it also makes it easier to get the final shape the way I want it.
I let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes between the pre-shape and final shape.

When it was time for the final shape, I chose to shape the dough into a batard.
Here is a video showing my technique.

After that, I placed the dough into a lined and floured banneton.

FINAL RISE

I tried to proof the dough at both room temperature and in the refrigerator, both with good results.
The temperature in my kitchen is around 22°C, and the proofing time was 1 hour.
The temperature in my refrigerator is 5°C in the upper part, where I use to place the dough. I let the dough proof for 10 hours.

BAKING

I preheated the oven with a combo cooker to 480°F/250°C in good time before it was time to bake. A combo cooker is not necessary. You can bake on a baking stone or even an ordinary baking sheet. However, a combo cooker or a dutch oven helps to tarp steam around the bread, resulting in a better oven spring. A clay cooker also works fine.

This bread needs about 45 minutes in the oven. You can remove the lid or upper part if you use a combo cooker or dutch oven after 15 minutes. You may have to lower the heat for the last 10 or 20 minutes to prevent the bread from being burnt.

CONCLUSION

This olive bread is not for breakfast.
Unless you just love to shock your tasting buds with Mediterranean flavors in the morning.
What I try to say is that this bread has lots of taste, just what you can expect from something that is stuffed with olives, garlic, and thyme.

As I said before, it’s a good idea to hold back with salt. It depends, of course, on what kind of olives you prefer, but kalamata olives that are used in this recipe are quite salty.

I think this the perfect bread for a tasty Italian dish, like spaghetti puttanesca, for example.

Or why not as a foundation for a tasty bruschetta?

Olive bread with garlic and thyme

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Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Dough

• 300 gram Wheat (bread) flour 12,5% protein content
• 80 gram durum flour 12% protein content
• 80 gram levain 100% hydration (see recipe below)
• 270 gram water
• 7 gram salt
• 50 gram olives chopped
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1,5 tablespoon thyme fresh or 1 teaspoon dried.

Levain

• 20 gram active sourdough starter
• 40 gram Wheat flour
• 40 gram water

Instructions

 

• Mix active starter with flour and water. Place it somewhere warm and let it ferment until it has at least doubled in volume
• Mix flour with water until all flour is hydrated. Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 1 hour.
• Add salt and levain and knead the dough for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Perform a set of stretch and fold, followed by two more, spaced out by 30 minutes. Add olives, thyme, and garlic during the last stretch and fold.
• Let the dough ferment until it has increased by 70% in volume.
• Dump out the dough on a floured surface and shape it into a round. Let it relax for 15 minutes and shape it into a batard or other preferred shape.
• Place the dough into a floured banneton and let it proof for about 1 hour at room temperature, and 10 hours in a refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 480°F/250°C, and bake for 45 minutes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!