They say that kneading is relaxing, as well as bread baking. For me, relaxing is cooking in general. But I think that preparing bread, giving its shape, watching it rise, the scent of it while baking, are among the most contributory moments of a cook. These were my feelings when I made this whole wheat bread with olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
The taste and the smell of this bread was exactly what I really wanted to accomplish. Whole-wheat bread, enriched with ingredients of the Greek nature: olives, tomatoes, rosemary and olive oil. As for its shape, isn’t it beautiful? It was accomplished by using the Silikomart 3D Treccia silicone mold which is ideal for breads, cakes, and your Easter buns.
The recipe is simple, easy and not at all tiring. Kneading the dough is minimal and everyone can do it. If you faithfully follow the recipe you’ll get the most fragrant whole wheat bread with olives, sun dried tomatoes and rosemary, without much trouble 😉
- • 600 g. whole meal flour
- • 16g. (2 sachets) dry yeast
- • 500 ml lukewarm water
- • 2 teaspoons honey
- • 1 ½ teaspoon salt*
- • 2 tablespoons olive oil
- • 80 g. sun dried tomatoes(those stored in olive oil), drained and dried, cut into very thin strips
- • 120 g. black olives (Kalamata or other), coarsely chopped, or, sliced into rings
- • ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- In a bowl mix the flour and salt and stir.
- Make a hole in the center and add the honey and yeast. Pour 1 cup water and stir briefly with a wooden spoon.
- Add the olive oil, olives, tomatoes, rosemary and slowly add the remaining water and stir.
- Put the wooden spoon on the side and knead by hand so as to absorb all the flour from the bowl. The dough shouldn’t be sticky. This will be done very quickly, do not over-knead. You may need a little more flour or water to get the desired result.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it and put in a warm place to rise for 1 hour to double (if you put it under the sun it will rise faster).
- After the dough has risen, knead again briefly and transfer it to the Silikomart 3D Treccia silicon mold and spread it evenly. ** Cover and allow the dough to rise again in a warm place for about ½ hour. Meanwhile preheat oven to 200o C / 390o F.
- Place the mold on a baking sheet and bake the bread for 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven invert the bread on the baking sheet, and bake for another 10 minutes. ***
- Allow the bread to cool completely on a rack before serving it.
- * If the olives you want to use are very salty, use only 1 teaspoon of salt.
- **If you do not want to use the mold, transfer the dough into the baking pan and give it the shape you want. Keep in mind that the cooking time depends on the size of the bread.
- *** If not using a mold, skip this step and simply bake the bread for 50 minutes.
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