Olive bread is an ancient bread that encloses and synthesizes the essence of the Mediterranean diet.
Olive bread is a soft bread enriched with green olives cut into small pieces that make it delicious even consumed alone. The olive bread goes well with the traditional platters of cold cuts and cheeses.
Olive bread contains the flavors, smells, and colors that dye our lands yellow and green. The yellow of the wheat and the green of the olives. A tasty bread that goes perfectly with platters of cheeses and cold cuts but also with mixed salads and vegetables. Olive bread with a thousand facets is easy to make and excellent to consume in the company.
Olive of the fields and mine of antioxidants. The properties of bread for the benefit of our health are widely recognized, as well as confirmed also in the medical field: bread represents, together with pasta, the leading ingredient of our Mediterranean diet.
The habit of adding olives to the bread dough is undoubtedly not of new workmanship: this tradition dates back to the mists of time.
This is a combination that is particularly appreciable from a gastronomic point of view, and not only: as can be imagined, from a nutritional point of view the advantages are really praiseworthy.
Highly appreciated are the olives, which, in spite of the climatic adversities that mark the region in which they are mainly produced, namely Liguria, boast high and constant productivity and in any case indispensable, because of their being very aromatic, especially if consumed raw or in bread.
The role that olives play in the Mediterranean diet is truly incredible: just think of the noblest condiment that permeates our Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil.
Mine of antioxidants, no condiment in the world can match the fruit of pressing olives, is considered a real heritage to be preserved and protected from the attacks of misleading falsifications.
Olives have recently been subjected to numerous researches aimed at verifying the presence of other potentially beneficial effects. Recently, for example, a causal link has been shown between the consumption of olives and the reduction of the onset not only of cancer but also of osteoporosis.
For all those who see bread as an indispensable food on their tables, here is the extraordinary recipe for Mediterranean olive bread.
Tuscany invites itself to the table. Relish the taste of authentic Mediterranean olive bread every day with this easy-to-make, no-knead recipe.
In a bowl dissolve the yeast with warm water and add as much flour as needed to obtain a very consistent batter that you let rise until it has doubled its volume.
On a pastry board knead the flour with oil, salt, and a little warm water. When it is well mixed, add the dough with the yeast, and work the dough well.
After a few minutes add the salt and after another 5 minutes the pitted olives. Continue to knead until the olives are well incorporated into the dough.
Lightly flour, obtained, place it in a bowl and cut it with a cross-cut. Cover it with a moistened heavy cloth and let it rise for about 2 hours or until the volume is doubled.
Heat the oven to 210 °C, lower it to 190 °C and bake the bread for about 25 minutes. The cooking time varies depending on the type of oven and the size of the bread.