A couple of weekends ago, here in Scotland, we were finally able to go outdoors even if not exercising and meet with some of our families and friends (albeit still at a distance!) It felt incredibly nice to be able to sit in the sunshine and hear our loved ones' voices in person. This special moment called for some special picnic snack.
This is another case of the "looks complicated, but it's in fact so, so easy" recipe. Especially if you have a bread maker with a pizza setting. And even if you don't, it's an absolute no-brainer. For this recipe I made two separate shapes: one tear & share as in the picture above and a swiss roll -style loaf as I had a fair bit of dough. If you want to only make one tear & share (or one rolled loaf), I would suggest to half the ingredients below. Or you can always divide the dough in half and use the second half to make some pizza - for my easy pizza recipe, check out this post.
Yields 1 tear & share + 1 rolled loaf
Ingredients:
-240ml of water (I prefer lukewarm)
- 1 tbs of olive oil
- 1 heaped tsp of table salt
- 480g of plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon of dry active yeast
- 1 jar of pitted olives (black or green, either is fine)
- olive oil (depends on how runny you want your tapenade)
- 4-5 tbsp of passata
- a sprinkle of oregano (OPTIONAL)
Method:
If you have a bread maker with a pizza setting, place the dough ingredients in the container in this order: water oil, salt, flour & yeast. Set the machine to the pizza setting - mine takes about 1 hr 10 min. For reference: we do not want the machine to actually bake the dough, but only to mix and prove the dough.
If you don't have a bread maker you can still prepare the dough with the same ingredients, just follow the method I have explained in my pizza post.
While the bread maker is running, you can prepare the tapenade. Chop the olives in smaller chucks and place in a kitchen blender with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend to the desired consistency - I like mine to still have some chunks of olive. You might need to add more olive oil during blending if the mix is too thick. You can also add a bit of water instead of oil. Just remember to only add a little at a time.
Once the dough is ready, remove from the bread maker and place on a floured surface Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a rectangular shape. Don't roll out your dough too thin as you are looking for a fluffy roll. Leaving a 3- 5 cm gap at one of the long edges, spread the olive tapenade evenly over the dough.
Roll the dough from the long edge trying to keep the swirl as tight as possible. Once you rolled up a log shape, we will need to cut it into discs. I always find that no matter what type of knife I use, I end up squishing the dough and ruining the swirl, so I have opted for a thread cutting technique. I used plastic thread, but you can also use floss (maybe not flavoured types to avoid giving the rolls a strange minty taste). For a quick tutorial, you can have a peek at this video.
Once you have cut your rolls, place them in a pattern in a round baking tin which has been lined with baking paper. Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for further 30 min (best if in a warm environment).
If you are opting for the rolled loaf, you don't need to cut the slices, but can simply place the rolled log into a loaf tin which has been lined with baking paper. Cover and leave to prove.
In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 180C. Once the dough has proved, spoon some passata on the top and sprinkle with some thyme. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 min depending on your oven.
Serve warm or cold - buon appetito!
If you end up giving this recipe a go, I would love to see a snap of it. Simply tag @giadasplate on Instagram or send me a DM.
Happy cooking & buon appetito!