Rosemary & Olive Bread
April 19th, 2010 by LisaMy husband and I just returned from a recent trip to the Waterworks restaurant in Philadelphia (which was fabulous, and I highly recommend. Great views of the Schuylkill – both river and expressway) for our anniversary. One of the most outstanding parts of the meal was the olive bread the restaurant served with dinner – now, I am normally not an olive-lover, but I gave it a try and it was fantastic! When making bread this weekend to pair with some soup, I decided to go out on a limb and give baking my own olive bread a shot. The rosemary balances very nicely with the olive flavor; it would be a great accompaniment to a special meal for company, but easy enough to make just for a night in with the family. I based the recipe off of a bread recipe found in the Mark Bittman cookbook that we’re so fond of on Domestic Pursuits, making a few adjustments.
Ingredients:
3 and 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup diced olives
1 and 1/2 scant cups of water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions:
Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Add the rosemary and olives to the mixture. Mix in the water and olive oil to form a dough. If the dough is too dry (unlikely!) then add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1-2 hrs, covered in a non-airtight container. Knead the dough several times on a flour-dusted surface, folding so that the top is smooth. Place the dough on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel and let rise for an additional hour. In the meantime, place a pizza stone and a broiler pan in the oven. About 20 minutes before the dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Set aside a cup of warm water. Just before baking, dust the dough with flour and slash the top of the dough with a very sharp knife. Pour the water into the heated broiler pan, and quickly slide the dough onto the pizza peel. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Enjoy!
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