Kalamata Olive Fougasse

We love this crusty French flat bread filled with salty olives. The best way to eat it: ripped apart and dipped into stews or a bowl of French onion soup.

Makes 4 fougasse

Prep time 2 hours

Bake time 25–30 minutes

• 500g strong bread flour

• 10g salt

• 5g instant dried yeast

• ½ tsp dried mixed Italian herbs

• 30g olive oil

• 380ml water

• 150g kalamata olives, stoned and roughly sliced

• additional flour for dusting

» Preheat the oven to 240°C.

» Place all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, except the olives. Using your hands, combine the ingredients together until a dough mass has formed, then tip the dough out onto the bench and knead for 10–15 minutes (taking a rest period of 1 minute, every 2-3 minutes of mixing) until the dough is smooth and elastic in feel. » Add the olives and continue to gently knead them in until they are evenly incorporated. You may add a sprinkling of flour during this mixing stage.

» Lightly oil a bowl large enough to allow the dough to double in size, then put the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to ferment for 1 hour.

» Gently knock back the dough by gently folding it back onto itself. This will deflate it slightly, but it will develop more strength. Cover again with plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes.

» Next, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured bench and using a dough scraper, cut the dough into 4 pieces of 200g each. » On a well-floured bench, shape each dough piece into an oval tear shape, approximately 15cm long by 10cm wide and 1cm thick. » Using a sharp knife or dough scraper cut three diagonals down each side, and two down the middle, approximately 50mm in length and all the way through. Pull each cut apart to create a wide-open effect. Repeat for the remaining dough pieces. » Place each dough piece onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper, two per baking tray.

» Cover each baking tray with plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Allow to proof for 15 minutes, then place the baking trays into the oven.

» Apply steam and bake for 18 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and rotate the trays and bake for a further 10 minutes.

» Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.