Fougasse with courgettes & olives

MAKES 3 breads, enough for 4-6 people PREP 35 mins plus 2 hrs fermenting and proving

COOK 12 mins MORE EFFORT V 11/2 tsp dried yeast or 1 tbsp fresh yeast

450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

50g rye flour

2 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp

2 tsp fine salt

1 courgette (about 200g), sliced into very thin rounds

2 tbsp black olives, pitted

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 tbsp semolina, for dusting

1 Mix the yeast with 50g of the white flour and 50ml lukewarm water in a small bowl. Mix well, cover and leave in a warm place to ferment for around 20 mins. When the yeast mixture has started to expand and bubble, mix the rest of the flours in a large bowl with 300ml water, 2 tbsp olive oil and the salt.

2 Add the yeast mixture to the rest of the dough. Mix thoroughly and knead for 5 mins, stretching and folding the dough. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and leave to prove in a warm place for 1-11/2 hrs. 3 Put the courgette in a bowl, lightly season with salt and drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Add the olives and oregano. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface – try not to knock it around and deflate it too much. Cut the dough into three pieces using a dough scraper or blunt knife.

4 Take one piece of the dough, sprinkle over a third of the courgettes and olives, then fold the dough back over itself so the ingredients are incorporated – you might need to add a little extra flour if it’s too wet. Repeat with the other pieces. Use your hands to pull the dough this way and that to shape the bread. You want them to be roughly 1cm thick and roughly oval shaped. Dust a heavy baking tray (or two) lightly with semolina, and transfer the dough to the trays. Cover the dough with a slightly damp, clean tea towel and allow to prove for another 30 mins until slightly puffed up (by around 1cm). 5 Heat the oven as hot as it will go (240C/220C fan/gas 9 for most domestic ovens). If you have a baking stone, then use it, otherwise put a heavy tray in the oven to heat. This will mimic the hearth and will make for a nice crust.

6 Using a dough scraper or palette knife, cut the dough down the middle, all the way through to the work surface, but not all the way to the edge of the bread. At 45-degree angles, cut three smaller lateral cuts in a similar fashion, so that the cuts make a pattern like a sheaf of wheat or a leaf. Use your fingers to slightly stretch out the bread around the cuts and make the holes bigger.

7 For a crispier crust, just before baking, spray the oven with a fine mist of water or put a small ovenproof container with a few ice cubes in the bottom of the oven. Slide the fougasse onto the stone or tray and bake for 10-12 mins or until golden brown. The courgettes should have roasted nicely inside and out. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before ripping into the fougasse, dunking pieces in your best olive oil.

PER SERVING (6) 372 kcals • fat 6g • saturates 1g • carbs 65g • sugars 1g • fibre 4g • protein 11g • salt 1.7g