Heading on a hike, I didn’t feel like just sandwiches but didn’t have time to make what I really wanted – focaccia. So, I went experimental.
I adore my bread maker – its a Morphy Richards Homebake and has been with me for at least 5 years. It’s not fancy but it means we can have nice bread without constantly having to head to the shop or a bakery (cheaper too).
Ingredients
1/2 cup olives – chopped (any type will do)
2 tbsp rosemary – cut up with scissors
2 cups strong white bread flour
1.5 cups wholemeal flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1-1.5 cups water
1.5 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
Method
- Pop everything except the olives and rosemary into the machine (keep the yeast and salt apart). Start with 1 cup of water but if it looks really dry, add some more. It makes a lovely soft, silky-looking dough.
- Start the breadmaker on using the normal cycle – medium size.
- When the beeper goes to signal adding seeds etc, add the olives and rosemary
- Keep an eye on it for a few minutes to make sure it’s picking up the olives and herbs and mixing them in. If not, press in with your hands to help it along. At this point, if the dough looks a bit wet, add 1 or 2 tbsp of wholemeal flour. Mine did.
- Close the lid and let the machine do its thing.
- After a few hours, you’ll be rewarded with a tasty loaf that is a bit different to your run-of-the-mill plain or seeded loaf.
FAQs
Can I use other ingredients?
I haven’t yet but I plan to. Maybe some chopped-up sundried tomatoes.
How long does the load keep?
I recommend eating it within 3 days. You could probably slice and freeze it though.
What should I serve it with?
This loaf is great on its own, with a bit of butter or olive oil, hummus, cheese or similar. We had it with a bit of all of the above plus some olive tapenade that we needed to use up. I recon it’d be particularly good with soup.