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Zoe Bakes Olive Boule

Olive Boule

byZoë François
Total 4 hours and 35 minutes (includes rising time)
Active 30 mins
Makes 1 oval loaf
Special Equipment
a pizza peel
Special Equipment
a pizza peel
Ingredients
  • Cornmeal, for pizza peel (optional)
  • 1 pound No-Knead Artisan Master Dough (recipe below)
  • All-purpose flour, for dusting
  • 1/4 cup olives, pitted and halved
    No-Knead Artisan Master Dough:
    • 3 cups (710 milliliters) lukewarm water
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons Platinum Yeast
    • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or to taste)
    • 6 1/2 cups (910 grams) all-purpose flour
    • Cornmeal or parchment, for the pizza peel
      Directions
      1. Prepare a pizza peel by dusting it with cornmeal or lining it with a sheet of parchment paper.
      2. Sprinkle the surface of the No-Knead Artisan Master Dough with flour. Using your hands and a rolling pin, flatten the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cover with the olives and roll up to seal them inside the dough. Crimp the ends shut and tuck them under to form an oval loaf. Gently knead to evenly disperse the olives. Cover with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl and allow to rest for 90 minutes on another sheet of parchment paper.
      3. Preheat the oven to 500°F and place your 5-quart Dutch oven inside to preheat.
      4. When the dough has rested for 90 minutes, dust the top with flour and use a serrated knife or lame to slash a 1/2-inch-deep cross in the dough. Slide the loaf into the preheated Dutch oven. Lower the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake for about 25 minutes.
      5. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven and continue baking for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
      1. No-Knead Artisan Master Dough:
        1. In a 5-quart container, mix together the warm water, yeast, and salt. Add the flour, then use a spoon, Danish dough whisk, or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment to mix until uniform. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.
        2. The dough can be shaped and baked after the 2-hour rise or refrigerated in a lidded container (not airtight) for up to 14 days. The dough will be easier to work with after at least 4 hours of refrigeration. Adapted from "Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day Recipe: The Homemade Bread Revolution Continues" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François © Thomas Dunne Books, 2011. Provided courtesy of Zoë François. All rights reserved.