Italian

Olive Bread takes several minutes to prepare.

Olive Bread takes 40 minutes to cook.

Olive Bread makes 24 servings.

The ingredients for Olive Bread are:

3 packages (7 1⁄2 tsp) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
2 cups bread flour
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting the loaves
1 tbs sea salt *I used half
2 cups Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

Here is how you make Olive Bread:

By Hand: In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in thewarm water and let stand until foamy, about 5minutes. Add the oil, the flours, and the salt and stir inwith your hand or a wooden spoon until a rough ballforms. Using a plastic pastry scraper, scrape the doughout of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.Knead until it is smooth and elastic, dusting the worksurface with the flour to keep it from sticking, 5 ? 7minutes.--By Stand Mixer: In the 5-qt (5-l) bowl of a standmixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and letstand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the oil, theflours, and the salt. Place the bowl on the mixer,attach the dough hook, and knead on low speed. Add alittle flour as needed for the dough to come away fromthe sides of the bowl after a few minutes. Knead untilthe dough is smooth and elastic, 5 ? 7 minutes.Remove the dough from the bowl.--Sprinkle the olives over the top of the dough and knead them into the dough briefly and gently. Form the doughinto a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and leave the doughto rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, 1 ? 11⁄2 hours.Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it briefly and gently todisperse the olives evenly. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut it in half. Cover with a kitchen towel andlet rest for 5 minutes before shaping. Line a half-sheet pan or rimless baking sheet with parchment (baking)paper. Shape each half of the dough into a tight round loaf by rotating the bread in a circular motion on the worksurface between your hands. If any olives fall out while shaping, just tuck them back into the underside of theround. Put the loaves on the prepared pan, spacing them generously apart. Cover the loaves loosely with akitchen towel and let them rise in a warm, draft-free spot until they double in size, 30 ? 40 minutes.Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 450' F. Lightly dust the tops of the loaves withflour. Using a serrated knife, slash a half crescent from one end of the loaf to the other, just off-center. Put thepans into the oven and reduce the heat to 425' F. Bake the breads until they are golden brown and sound hollowwhen tapped on the bottom, 35 ? 40 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool for at least 45 minutes.--Variations:Walnut BreadUse walnut oil instead of olive oil, and substitute 2 c walnut pieces, toasted, for the olives.Hazelnut-Fig BreadUse hazelnut oil instead of olive oil. Plump 1 c chopped dried figs in hot water. Substitute 1 c skinned, toastedhazelnut (filbert) pieces for the olives. Drain the figs and add them when working the nuts into the dough.Pine Nut ? Asiago BreadSubstitute 1 c pine nuts, toasted, and 1 c coarsely shredded Asiago cheese for the olives.Rosemary-Feta Olive BreadAdd 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary and 2 tsp coarsely ground pepper with the salt. Reduce olives to 1 cand chop them finer. Add 1 c crumbled feta cheese to the dough with the olives.Number of Servings: 24Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ZOLA_NATALIE.

The nutritional information for Olive Bread is:

• Servings Per Recipe: 24
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 480.9

• Total Fat: 54.0 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 291.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 0.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
• Protein: 0.6 g

Olive Bread is Italian cuisine.