1,355 easy and fully explained recipes, with 27,644 photos and 78 videos

Olive and pesto bread

This bread with olives and pesto has a very Italian flavour: a ciabatta dough, herbes de Provence and green olives.

The loaf is baked in a tin, with a thin layer of pesto spread in the middle between two pieces of dough, and green olives (with stones removed) pressed into the top.

52K 24 4.0

Last modified on: October 24^th 2017

Keywords for this recipe:

For 2 loaves, you will need:

1 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65)
2 350 ml water
3 50 ml olive oil
4 9 g salt
5 7 g yeast
6 2 tablespoons herbes de Provence
7 150 g Soured dough (optional)
8 200 g Pesto
9 200 g green olives
Total weight: 1,346 grams

Change these quantities to make: 1 loaves 2 loaves 4 loaves 6 loaves

Change measures: Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

How long does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
27 min.	2 hours 50 min.	40 min.	3 hours 57 min.

At what time:

When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at ... ?
Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 5 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #1

Put into a food-mixer bowl: 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65), 350 ml water, 50 ml olive oil, 9 g salt, 7 g yeast, 2 tablespoons herbes de Provence and 150 g Soured dough (if possible).

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #2

Knead on slow speed for 10 minutes.

Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.

Stage 3 - 1 hour 30 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #3

Gather the dough into a bowl and transfer to a clean bowl. Cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 1 to 2 hours.

Stage 4 - 20 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #4

After resting, weigh out the dough into 4 identical pieces (if you are making 2 loaves, that is).

Roll the dough into balls, cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Stage 5 - 3 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #5

After resting, take the first ball of dough and roll out into a circle the diameter of your tin or mould (I am using a 10 inch / 26 cm spring-form tin here).

Stage 6 - 1 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #6

Place this circle of dough in the tin.

Stage 7 - 5 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #7

Spread half of the 200 g Pesto over the dough with a spoon.

Do not take the pesto too close to the edge, but leave about 1/2 an inch (1 cm) bare (as in the photo).

Moisten this edge with a brush dipped in water to help stick the layers of dough together.

Stage 8 - 3 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #8

Lay the second circle of dough on top and press down lightly to seal around the edge.

Stage 9 - 1 hour

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #9

Push the stoned green olives into dough, all over the top.

Repeat steps 5 to 9 for the second loaf.

Cover them with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 1 hour.

Stage 10 - 40 min.

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #10

Preheat the oven to 460°F (240°C).

Brush the tops of the loaves with a little olive oil, then bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Stage 11

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #11

Turn out while hot.

Stage 12

Olive and pesto bread : Photo of step #12

However you serve the bread (cut into portions, like a cake, or in small squares...), arrange the pieces to show off the pesto in the centre.

Remarks

You can use black olives instead of green, if you prefer (do remove the stones from these, too).

Another possible version: use tapenade instead of the pesto.

Keeping

Several days, preferably in a cloth bag.

Source

Home made.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
3,422 Kcal or 14,327 Kj	87 gr	471 gr	222 gr
171 %	33 %	44 %	34 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
254 Kcal or 1,063 Kj	6 gr	35 gr	16 gr
13 %	2 %	3 %	2 %

Per loaves
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
1,711 Kcal or 7,164 Kj	43 gr	235 gr	111 gr
86 %	17 %	22 %	17 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, Sourdough, Milk

How much will it cost?

For 2 loaves : 10.48 €
Per loaves : 5.24 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

	Plain white flour (French Type 65): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Classic French white bread, Loaf for "les filles'", French baguettes, Jura bread, Cretan Bread, ... All
	Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: How to prepare Jerusalem artichokes, Super-green, super-thrifty soup, Potimarron (Japanese chestnut pumpkin) purée, Citrus crunch, Franche-Comté sticks, ... All
	Green olives: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Tomato foccacia, Cretan Bread, Loaf for "les filles'", Two-olive ciabatta, ... All
	Pesto: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Tomato feuilleté with pesto, Fried egg in bread, Italian toast, Pesto crackers, Genoese croque-monsieur, ... All

Other recipes you may also like

Jura bread

This speciality bread is full of all the character of the Jura: dry white wine (made with Savagnin grapes, of course), diced Comté cheese and toasted walnuts. "Jurassic bread" was is first name... The loaves can be made long, as shown here, or as small rolls. This is ideal as an aperitif snack,...
47K4.4 6 hours 9 min. October 24^th 2017

Finger biscuits

These small biscuits, that look a bit like savoy biscuits, are delicious alone or with Champagne, but are also the base for charlottes or Tiramisu.
320K5 50 min. July 30^th 2021

Vanilla sugar

Almost essential in patisserie, you can find it in expensive little sachets of about 10g. It's necessary to distinguish between the vanilla sugar which really contains vanilla, and vanillin sugar, purely chemical which has never seen a vanilla pod. Here is how to quickly make a whole jar full of...
393K 15 26 min. August 12^th 2018

Surprise bread

This recipe is for a large surprise bread so you can make six layers (48 small sandwiches if you divide each layer in 8), with three different flavours: smoked salmon/lime, smoked ham/butter, mayonnaise/chicken.
669K 84.5 6 hours 24 min. December 27^th 2020

Parisian-style chocolate custard tart

You may well already have met the classic French custard tart, with its vanilla filling. Here is a delicious chocolate-flavoured version.
38K 1 hour 8 min. July 13^th 2022

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

Post your comment or question

Follow this recipe

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.

Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.