Olive - Walnut Bread

Olive-Walnut Bread Recipe

Olive -Walnut Bread made with Graber Olive products

This recipe is adapted from some traditional Olive Bread Recipes and produces a rustic, savory loaf of bread. This recipe involves no kneading, unlike most yeast bread recipes. I made this bread using Graber Olive Products found at the Graber Olive House.

Feel free to up the herb proportions, I did not want to overpower the taste of the walnuts.

This bread is perfect to serve any time of year, but especially wonderful to serve this in the late Autumn months gathered around a warm fire. For some ideas on table settings and place setting etiquette, check out this blog.

 Enjoy! Please do share any adaption you decide to make to this recipe in comments!

Ingredients:
      3 cups Bread Flour, plus more for work surface
      1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt (the olives & cheese have added salt content)
      1 teaspoon instant or active-dry Yeast
      1/2 teaspoon dried, ground Rosemary
      1/2 teaspoon dried, ground Green Onion (or Onion Powder)
      1/2 cups of finely chopped Walnut meats
      1 1/2 cups coarsely grated Asiago Cheese
      1  can (seeded & cut in thick slices & pieces) Graber Olives
      1 1/2 cups cool water (55 to 65 degrees), plus more as needed
      2 teaspoons of Graber Olive Oil

Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, and yeast; stir in cheese and olives. Add water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until a wet, sticky dough forms, about 30 seconds, adding additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and surface becomes dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours. It works well to plan this timing the night before. Generously flour work surface; scrape dough onto work surface. Lightly flour hands, a bowl scraper, or a spatula and lift edges of dough toward the center. Nudge and tuck edges of dough to make round.

Place a piece of parchment paper on work surface and generously dust with flour. Gently place dough on parchment. If dough is tacky, lightly dust top with flour. Cover dough loosely with parchment paper and two clean kitchen towels. Let dough stand in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Gently poke dough with your finger; dough should hold the impression. If it springs back, let rise 15 minutes more.

Ten minutes before dough has finished rising, use olive oil to coat the inside of a large, Pyrex bowl. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (convection oven preferred.) Place a Pizza stone in the center of the oven rack and a Pyrex bowl in the center of the stone.

Using pot holders, carefully remove preheated Pyrex Bowl from oven and uncover. Uncover bread and loosen bottom with a large spatula. With the aid of the parchment paper, invert bread dough into preheated bowl. Cover bowl with a well fitted, oven heat safe Pyrex lid and transfer to oven; bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover and continue baking until bread is dark brown but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. At this point you can carefully transfer the bread from the bowl, right onto the pizza stone and turn up the over to 450 degrees. The timing will depend on your oven and my nose (smell wafting through the house) usually tells me the exact moment it is done.  You want the bread crust dark brown but not burnt.  Transfer to a bread board to cool.
Serve with Graber Olive Oil - Balsamic Vinegar in a dipping bowl with added dried herbs of your choice.

Olive - Walnut Bread