Homemade Rosemary Olive Bread

There’s certainly something extremely satisfying about creating a loaf of bread in your own kitchen. So satisfying, it becomes addictive.

And that’s what’s happened to me. I’ve been on somewhat of a homemade bread making bender. This Rosemary Olive Bread Recipe has me hooked.

Blooming yeast: Yeast is alive, and blooming the yeast will tell us that it still has active yeast cells to successfully make bread.

1. Step 1: In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Let the yeast start to bubble before proceeding.

2. Step 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cool water, yeast mixture and flours until just incorporated. The dough should resemble a shaggy mass consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 – 30 minutes. (Autolyse).
3. Step 3: After resting, switch to a dough hook. Add the salt and knead the dough on low-medium speed until it is soft and smooth. 10 – 12 minutes. Knead in the chopped rosemary and broken olives in the last two minutes of kneading. 

4. Step 4: Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 1 hour. Punch down and allow to rise again until doubled. (45 – 50 minutes)
5. Step 5: On a lightly floured surface, gently deflate the dough and divide in half. Shape each portion into a boule bowl or upside down on a sheet pan. Cover and let rise for 30 – 40 minutes or until about doubled.
6. Step 6: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using a serrated knife or razor, cut an “X” on top of the loaf. If using a boule bowl, remove the dough and place on a baking sheet. Bake until loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. About 30 minutes.

Tips For Making Bread at Home

Just like wine making, making bread is watching and nurturing a living thing to grow. Watching the yeast bloom, seeing the bread rise like magic and smelling the bread baking.

Learning about fermentation and proofing, watching the action happen. Converting starches into sugars… and it’s all actually easier than it seems. There’s nothing like it. It’s messy, it’s rewarding and you feel like an artisan.

I’ve kept the way I approach bread making in my own kitchen as the way I was taught at Culinary School.

• Use quality flours.
• Measure by weight using a digital scale instead of volume (measuring cups).
• Measure everything exactly to the gram. Owning a good quality digital scale is not optional.

Making bread is most certainly a labor of love. And if you need inspiration I urge you to watch Michael Pollan’s Netflix Documentary “Cooked”. 

I liked it so much I’ve watched it twice. A four part series, he explores cooking through four natural elements – fire, water, air and earth. The bread baking part of the series is truly inspiring.

• This olive bread recipe is one of my favorites of those we learned to make at school. Moist and savory, I could eat the whole loaf.
• This bread recipe goes through two rises. One for an hour and one for 45 minutes. One of the least complicated recipes I’ve tried so far.
• I use both Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives for this recipe. Any combination of olives will work. The original recipe calls for Kalamata olives only and the title in my culinary school binder reads Rosemary Kalamata Olive Bread Recipe.