Ingredients:
650g / 1lb 7oz Thunderbolt Flour or Harvest Flour
7g / ¼oz sachet easy blend yeast
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp olive oil
250-275ml / 9-9½fl oz hand-hot water
140g / 5oz pitted black and green olives, (total weight) chopped
Steps:
- Tip the Thunderbolt Flour or Harvest Flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast, salt and olive oil. Pour in most of the water and work the mixture into a stiff, sticky dough, then work in enough of the remaining water to make the dugh feel damp.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Add the olives and knead them into the dough until evenly distributed.
- Put the dugh into a lightly oiled clean bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This shoud take 1¼ – 1½ hours.
- Turn the dough on to the work surface, punch it to knock out all the air then knead again for 2-3 minutes. Roll the dough into a 60cm/ 24in sausage, fold it loosely in half to make it about 30cm/ 12in long, then twist it once. Pince the ends to seal. Put the loaf in a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover again and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F/ Gas6.
- Just before putting the loaf in the oven, brush with a little water (to soften the crust). Bake for 30 minutes unil golden brown and the base sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack.