Jim Lahey's No-Knead Olive Bread

No-knead bread is my absolute favorite way to make bread. You need to plan ahead a bit in order to have enough time for the rise, but other than that I have found this bread making technique to be the leas disastrous (and I have had a fair few bread disasters in my time). I love this variety since it adds a bit more flavor to the traditional no-knead bread. I add a few fresh cut herbs to the bread as well sometime (thyme and rosemary work well) to give it an extra bit of flavor.



Adapted from Jim Lahey via Leite's Culinaria

Makes one loaf

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped pitted olives in brine (use something with more flavor, like kalamata as opposed to canned black olives)
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1-2 tablespoons fresh, finely chopped rosemary (optional)
1 1/2 cups cool water (55-65 degrees F)
Additional flour for dusting

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, olives, yeast and rosemary. Pour in the water and mix the dough with your hands or a wooden spoon. Dough will be wet and sticky once combined, after about 30 seconds of mixing. Cover the bowl and set aside for 12-18 hours, until the dough has doubled in size and has bubbles on the surface.

Once risen, turn out the dough on to a floured surface. You can use a rubber spatula to remove the dough. Flour your hands and gently lift the edges of the dough toward the middle. Tuck the dough as needed to shape the dough in to a ball.

Flour a tea towel. Place the dough seam-side down on the tea towel. Loosely cover the dough with the rest of the tea towel. Allow dough to rise 1 to 2 hours in a warm spot. The dough should double in size. When you poke the dough the dough should keep the indent from your finer. If the dough bounces back, continue to rise anther 15 minutes.

30 minutes before the end of the second rise, preheat your oven to 475F. Place a 4.5 quart or larger dutch oven in the oven to warm while the oven preheats.Once heated, remove the dutch oven. Gently and carefully place the dough seam-side up in the dutch oven. Place the lid on the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until the bread has a rich chestnut color, about another 15-30 minutes. Once done, remove the bread from the dutch oven using pot holder and allow to cool on a wire rack. Pin It Now!