No-Knead Artisan Olive & Herb Bread

May 20, 2014 by Laura Haugen 47 Comments

Olive lovers, you know how when you buy a loaf of olive bread, there are never enough olives in there? I have a solution: make your own at home! I assure you, it’s not that hard. (And if you don’t like olives, you can still make your own bread with different flavorings of your choice.) For this recipe you do need an oven-proof pot with a tight-sealing lid that will withstand 450 F/ 230 C degree heat. I use my 5.5-quart Le Creuset dutch oven and it works like a charm. You just mix everything together the night before, let the yeast do its magic overnight, then plop it in a preheated pot and cook. It comes out crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside, and (my version, at least) loaded with olives and herbs. It’s the only bread recipe you’ll ever need (and never knead)!

This is my entry for the first Fiesta Friday Challenge hosted by Angie at The Novice Gardener.  You’ve got to see the amazing things people are making with the challenge’s two required ingredients, yeast and herbs. We’ve all pledged to battle the yeast beast, and I think we’re finding it’s not at all as intimidating as we anticipated. I’ve had fun getting to know many of my fellow challengers at Angie’s weekly Fiesta Friday gatherings, and I can’t think of a more fun and encouraging group than this one to share our kitchen trials and tribulations.

Now, for this No-Knead Artisan Olive & Herb Bread, I’ve relied on the awesome post from Simply So Good for the recipe that originated from Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and went viral a while back. I’ve seen different variations, but Simply So Good‘s post is so thorough and clear, I think it’s the best place to start. I’ve just added some of my favorite ingredients to the mix: kalamata olives, rosemary, thyme & lemon zest. I’ve also adapted some of the techniques to what worked for me. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get baking!

Here’s what you do in the early morning or the night before you want to bake the bread: In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast (make sure it’s not expired), and 1 heaping tsp. kosher salt, and mix well with a whisk. Then add any other fixings to the mix that you like (I add my two heaping cups of pitted kalamata olives, finely chopped herbs and grated lemon zest here), plus 1 and 1/2 cups cool tap water and mix with a spatula. The dough will be shaggy and sticky, that’s okay, you don’t want to overmix it. Oil another bowl with a dab of olive oil smeared all over the inside, plop the dough in and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it for 12 to 18 hours for the yeast to do its magic.

Making the bread, clockwise from top right: 1) How the dough looks, bubbly and moist, after 12 hours of rising, 2) The dough dumped on top of the floured parchment paper, 3) The gently shaped ball of dough resting on clean parchment paper, 4) The somewhat misshapen dough after it gets thrown in the hot pot, 5) The bread straight out of the oven, and 6) Sliced warm olive & herb bread ready for dipping in olive oil.

I don’t have a photo of the dough before it rises, but the top right photo above is what it looks like after 12 hours: stretched and pocked with bubbles throughout. Here’s where I put my dutch oven, lid and all, into the (cold) oven and set the temperature to 450 F/ 230 C to let the oven and the pot heat up gradually. Now back to the dough: cover a large piece of parchment paper with a handful of flour and dump the dough out onto it. Flour your hands well too and gently shape the dough into a ball (or egg-shape, it’s fine; just don’t knead because you want to keep those nice bubbles inside). Brush/dump off the excess flour from the parchment paper and use the same plastic wrap to cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes like this on the clean paper (bottom right photo in the gallery above).

When your oven and pot are heated to temp (at least 30 minutes), carefully take the pot out, set the lid aside, and (very, very carefully so you don’t burn yourself on the hot pot) lift the dough on the parchment paper up over the hot pot and let it fall into the pot. Don’t worry if it warps or loses its shape when it falls into the pot; see mine above in the bottom middle photo — it’ll all work out! Leave as is and sprinkle with some fleur de sel or other fine sea salt, cover with the hot lid, and bake for 30 minutes.  Note: You do not need to oil the pot! The sealed pot is creating a steam bath for your dough to get crisp and crusty on the outside. After 30 minutes, remove the lid, and continue baking for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the bread to a cooling rack. It will take about 15 minutes to cool, but you might not be able to resist slicing into it warm from the oven. And what goes best with olive and herb bread? Olive oil infused with more herbs, of course! But eat it however you like it – it’s also great with cheese, toasted, and as sandwich bread!

Can you believe it, we made bread! And just look at all those olives peeking through the crust! Now this is my kind of olive bread. 🙂

No-Knead Artisan Olive & Herb Bread

• Servings: Makes one loaf
• Time: 1 hour, plus 12-18 hours rise time
• Difficulty: easy to moderate
• Print

Adapted from this Artisan No-Knead Bread recipe on Simply So Good

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping dough later
• 1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast (make sure it’s not expired)
• 1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt (to taste, but the olives are quite salty)
• 2 heaping cups pitted and halved kalamata olives *
• 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 and 1/2 cups cool tap water
• olive oil for greasing the bowl for the dough before rising (plus more for dipping later)
• Sprinkle of fleur de sel or other fine sea salt

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, and mix well with a whisk. Then add olives, herbs and lemon zest, plus tap water and mix with a spatula. The dough will be sticky & shaggy, that’s okay, you don’t want to overmix it. Oil another bowl with a dab of olive oil smeared all over the inside, then pour the dough in and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it for 12 to 18 hours for the yeast to do its magic.
2. When ready to bake, place the dutch oven (or other heat-proof lidded container) with lid into the cold oven and heat to 450 F/ 230 C for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cover a large piece of parchment paper with a handful of flour and dump the dough out onto it. Flour your hands well too and gently shape the dough into a ball (don’t knead or overwork it because you want to keep those nice bubbles inside). Brush/dump off the excess flour from the parchment paper and use the same plastic wrap to cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes like this on the clean paper.
3. When your oven and pot are heated to temp (at least 30 minutes), carefully take the pot out, set the lid aside, and (very, very carefully so you don’t burn yourself on the hot pot) lift the dough on the parchment paper up over the hot pot and let it fall into the pot. Sprinkle with some fleur de sel or other fine sea salt, cover with the hot(!) lid, and bake for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, remove the lid, and continue baking for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Slice and enjoy!

* Note: I buy whole kalamata olives and pit them myself; I just lay a knife flat on top of each olive, use my fist or palm to give it a pound from above to squash (watch out for flying olive juice). The flesh of the olive should then loosen from the pit and unfold easily to release the pit. I halve the olives for this recipe.

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