Olive Bread | gianna1.com

The tastiest olive bread to make

Nostalgic Olive bread from my old Italian neighborhood bakery

We had many bakeries on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, New York. My mother never bought olive bread because it wasn't created until the 60's. When I do go back to the old neighborhood, the first stop is the bakery to get us an olive bread. It wouldn't make it home. I would have them slice it up and the Cooley always had a stray olive just about to fall off.

I thought I would try to make it using pizza dough, but the texture just wasn't soft enough.

I found recipes on the internet, so I tweaked a recipe that was more of what I liked.

A bakery in my neighborhood which is still there.

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups AP flour

2 tsp dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 TBS grated cheese

1 tsp dry oregano

2 tsp granulated garlic

1.5 cups water at room temperature (not warm)

1 full cup green and black pitted olives, chopped

You will need 1 large bowl

1- 6 quart dutch oven with lid

Parchment paper

In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Stir completely till all mixed together.

Add the water and olives. With spatula combine to create a dough. It will be wet. No need to knead 😊. Just mold with your hands to make a ball.

Cover tightly with wrap and let it sit on your counter for 2-3 hours. You can refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Once you decide to bake, let dough rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees.

I use a Dutch oven for great results. Place empty Dutch oven in oven with the lid on to get nice and hot.

Once the temperature reaches 450, place dough on a piece of parchment paper and place, carefully into the hot Dutch oven, with the lid on.

Before placing in the oven, with knife, cut a 2 inch slash marking an X in the raw dough.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, make for an additional 10 minutes.

Carefully remove from oven. Let cool for 15 minutes before you devour it. Use a serrated knife to cut through that crispy crust.

Enjoy with olive oil dipping, sliced dry sausage, provolone and some red wine. Salute!

Let's get baking!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

1 whole thin skinned orange, remove the stem and cut in quarters. Keep the skin on the oranges.

In a clean large food processor, add the orange quarters, 1 1/4 cups of sugar, three large eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of orange extract, 1 tbsp of Triple Sec liqueur, optional, 2/3 cup vegetable oil.

Pulse all ingredients in the processor and then puree until mixture becomes a batter with specs of orange peel.

Add to the processor:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Process all dry ingredients until they are entirely incorporated into the batter.

Bake in a greased and floured spring pan, using a parchment paper circle on top of the greased bottom.*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place in the center rack of the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.

Remove from your oven and let it cool down completely. Dust with powdered sugar or make a drizzle of 1/4 cup powdered sugar and fresh squeezed orange until thick and smooth. Pour onto the cooled fresh orange cake.

Cooking with Love

with Gianna Conte (Jan)