Mediterranean Olive Bread

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Mix the flour, dry yeast, garlic powder and salt in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and warm water and just mix with a wooden spoon to make a homogeneous mixture – do not knead the dough. Stir in the roughly chopped pitted olives. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film, put it in a warm place and leave the dough to rise for two hours

Step 2

Place the cast-iron pot with its lid in the oven and heat at 220ºC for one hour.

Step 3

Place the dough onto a thoroughly flour-dusted surface. Do not touch the dough as it’s sticky and cannot be shaped by hand. Using a dough scraper, shape the dough into a loaf by pulling the ends of the dough from the bottom and pressing them into the middle of the top, repeating the process on all sides of the dough. Transfer the loaf onto parchment paper. Carefully take the heated pot from the oven, place the parchment paper and the loaf inside and immediately cover it again. Bake the Mediterranean bread at 220ºC for 30 minutes in a covered pot and for another 10 to 15 minutes uncovered. After baking, transfer the bread to a wire rack and leave it to cool.