Eat & Drink
Originally published on Tuesday, 22nd January 2008
Fougasse aux Olives
Makes 2 Fougasses
Fougasse is a kind of Provençal olive oil flatbread that is slashed with a knife from top to bottom before baking, giving it a kind of harp-like shape. Almost every town in Provence makes their own version, including some sweet versions made with lemon or orange blossom water.
My favorite kind of fougasse is made full of olives. I usually eat at least half of it during the walk home from the bakery.
Ingredients
400 grams flour
1 tbsp dried yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
125 mls milk, warmed to body temperature
125 mls water, at body temperature
85 mls extra virgin olive oil
300 grams black olives, preferably Niçoise or Nyons olives
Sea salt or Fleur de Sel for sprinkling
Instructions
To make the dough, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk, water and olive oil and stir well with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together as a dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead, adding more flour as required, for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball.
Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean mixing bowl rub it around the bowl with your fingers to lightly coat all the sides. Place the ball of dough in the bowl, turning once to coat the dough lightly in the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and place somewhere warm to rise for one hour or until doubled in size. (I like to rise my dough in the oven, which I preheat briefly at the lowest setting and then switch off. Dough tends to like dark, quiet places where it can rise in peace.)
Punch the dough to deflate and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle and sprinkle with the olives. Knead the olives into the dough (the olives may spill out of the dough as you knead, just press them back in). Re-form the dough into a ball, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200 C. Divide the dough into two even balls. Working with one ball of dough at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and transfer onto a sheet of parchment paper. With a sharp knife, make 8 slashes in the dough about the length of your index finger and pull the slashes apart with your fingers to open them. Brush each loaf with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the salt. Allow to rise for a further 30 minutes and then place in the oven to bake for 16-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly and eat while still warm.
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