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Olive Sourdough Bread Recipe With Rosemary, Thyme and Bell Peppers. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
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5 from 1 vote

Olive Sourdough Bread Recipe With Rosemary, Thyme and Bell Peppers

This olive sourdough bread recipe with rosemary, thyme and sweet red capsicum makes a deliciously moist sourdough bread that is fantastic toasted and spread with toppings such as ’nduja or just dipped in virgin olive oil and sea salt. It also serves as an excellent lesson in how to bake sourdough with inclusions.
Prep Time3 hours
Cook Time45 minutes
Proofing Time8 hours
Total Time11 hours 45 minutes
Course: Bread
Cuisine: French
Servings: 1 Loaf
Calories: 1409kcal

Ingredients

  • 370 g bread flour or a mix of 3 parts bread flour and 1 part wholewheat flour
  • 250 ml water bottled
  • 80 g starter full strength
  • 8 g salt

Inclusions

  • ½ tsp thyme dried
  • ½ tsp rosemary dried
  • 20 ml olive oil
  • 80 g olives pitted & halved, preferably Kalamata
  • 50 g capsicum fire-roasted & skinned

Instructions

  • Make sure your starter has at least doubled in size since the last feeding.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • When your starter has peaked it should have a slightly domed appearance and have bubbles of different sizes.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Mix your flours and add your salt.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • In a separate bowl, mix your water with the starter using a whisk. Add the olive oil and dried inclusions.
  • Add the water and starter to the other bowl and mix thoroughly. I like to use a flexible bowl scraper and finally mix the dough by hand. Cover the dough and leave it to rest for one hour.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Stretch and fold the dough 3 times with a 30 minute rest between folds. After the second fold add and evenly distribute the olives and capsicum.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • After the third fold, wait 30 minutes before testing the dough strength with the windowpane effect. If the dough does not break you are ready to pre-shape the dough.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Using a bench scraper form the dough into a tight ball by placing the scraper under the dough and scraping it 180˚ several times. If the dough keeps sticking to the scraper, use a little flour.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Once the dough is in a tight ball, sprinkle with a little rice flour and cover with a dish towel.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • After 20-30 minutes, flip the dough over and spread out into a rectangle.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Fold the right side over the left to halfway across the dough.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Then fold the left side over the right. You might see little bubbles on the surface of the dough. This is a good sign. If the bubbles are big, pinch them closed.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • From the edge closest to you, roll the dough gently over and press down enough to seal the dough. Do this until you now have a slightly oval shape.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Turn the dough 90˚ and seal the end of the dough. Rotate 180˚ and seal the other end. At this stage you can push the dough around the long sides to create more tension.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Line your ‘banneton’ with rice flour and flipping the dough over with a bench scraper, drop the dough into you banneton – this means the seam that was on the bottom is now on the top. If you need to, you can ‘stitch’ the dough along the centre to create more tension (in this case it wasn’t necessary).
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • Sprinkle the dough with a little more rice flour before covering it over. So stop it forming a skin, I then put it a plastic bag before refrigerating for at least 8 hours and up to 36 hours.
  • When ready to bake, place your Dutch Oven in your oven and preheat your oven to 260˚C or as hot as it will go. Flip the dough out (seam side down) onto a cutting board with some oven paper and a little semolina flour. This helps stop the bottom of the loaf from burning. Score the dough with a slash on one side of the dough at an angle of about 30˚. You can decorate the other side bu scoring it lightly. Carefully remove the Dutch Oven from the oven and transfer the dough over to the Dutch Oven. Spray with a little water and put the lid on and put the Dutch Oven back in the oven. Set a timer for 25 minutes.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • After 25 minutes, remove the Dutch Oven, take off the lid and put the bread back in the oven. If your oven goes to 260˚C, turn it down to 230˚C and set a timer for 20 minutes.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • If your bread did get great oven spring like this loaf, you can place some foil over the ‘ear’ to stop it from burning.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • After 20 minutes, assess the loaf and decide just how dark you want your loaf to be. This one shown is on the lighter side.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
  • When you are happy with your loaf place it on a wire rack to let the loaf cool fully before testing.
    Simple Sourdough Batard Recipe for the Baguette's Lesser Known Cousin. Copyright © 2020 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Nutrition

Calories: 1409kcal | Carbohydrates: 284g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3122mg | Potassium: 370mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 3mg