Olive, sun dried tomato and rosemary SD

This week’s bake was inspired by Dab’s 3 starter Italian olive bread with rosemary and sun dried tomato. I love pizza and this loaf sounded like a pizza so I couldn’t help but try it and hope it turned out half as good.

I changed some of the proportions from the original formula (more whole grain, more sun dried tomatoes, less olives and more rosemary):

 1. The levain was built in 3 stages using 8g of my NMNF rye starter (which has now gone 7 weeks without any maintenance). I did all the builds using whole wheat flour. I put the levain into the fridge overnight before mixing day once it doubled after the 3rd feed.

2. I mixed the remaining flours and water, left in the fridge for a few hours and then let come to room temp overnight.

3. In the morning I stirred down the levain and let it bubble up again for, then added to the rest of the dough along with the salt. I mixed everything with a few folds and then left to rest for 45mins.

4. I did the first S&F after the 45mins rest. The second S&F was after another 45mins (I added the olives, sundried tomatoes and rosemary at this point).

I did two more S&F at 45 min intervals.

5. I let the dough bulk ferment for 3 hours until I could see some nice bubbles on the edges.

6. I preshaped the dough and let it rest for 30 mins before shaping and placing in a rice floured basket.

7. I left the shaped dough to proof for 90 mins at room temp before putting it in the fridge for a 19 hour retard.

The whole process took about 8 hours between first mixing and getting into the fridge. It seems like a long time, but its still cold here!

8. I baked this one straight from the fridge for 30 mins with steam at 240 dC and then a further 15 mins at 230 dC. I left the loaf in the oven for another 5 mins with the heat off and the door ajar.

The aroma while it was baking was lovely!

The loaf sprang and bloomed well.

The crust is nice and thin and crispy.

The crumb is tender chewy and packed with flavor! The rosemary really comes through and there's enough olives and sun dried tomatoes so you get some in each slice. This is one tasty bread, especially dipped in a little bit of EVOO.

This loaf is a keeper. Thanks for the inspiration Dab :)

Happy baking.