Cretan Bread
This Cretan (or Cretan-style) bread has a soft dough, enriched with olive oil, preserved tomatoes, green olives and cooked onions.
92 K 4.1/5 (24 reviews)
4 hours 30 min.
Easy
4 pieces
12 IngredientsLast modified on: October 24th 2017
For 4 pieces, you will need:
- 1
75 ml green olives - 2
75 ml onion - 3
1 tablespoon olive oil - 4
75 ml feta - 5
75 ml preserved tomatoes - 6
780 ml plain white flour (French Type 65) - 7
325 ml water - 8
12.6 ml fine (or table) salt - 9
7.5 ml yeast - 10
50 ml leaven (optional) - 11 25 ml olive oil
- 12
½ tablespoon dry oregano
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 40 min.
Resting: 3 hours 20 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 4 hours 30 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 3 min.
Prepare the filling
Roughly chop 75 ml green olives.
Stage 3 - 3 min.
Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into a saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions, salt and pepper, then mix well.
Cook uncovered without colouring for 2 or 3 minutes.
Cook uncovered without colouring for 2 or 3 minutes.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
Add the onions, 75 ml feta and 75 ml preserved tomatoes to the olives...
Stage 5 - 1 min.
...then mix all this together.
Stage 6
In bread-making, the water temperature is always important. It's not a fixed value, but related to 3 other temperatures: 1) the temperature of your flour, 2) the room temperature in your kitchen, and 3) the basic temperature of this recipe, which is 56-60°C.
You can calculate the temperature of the water for this recipe in one click, using this small calculator.
You can calculate the temperature of the water for this recipe in one click, using this small calculator.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Put into a food processer bowl: 780 ml plain white flour (French Type 65) *, 325 ml water, 12.6 ml fine (or table) salt, 7.5 ml yeast and 50 ml leaven.
*You can use a "strong" bread flour, if this is available.
*You can use a "strong" bread flour, if this is available.
Stage 8 - 20 min.
Knead on slow speed for 16 minutes.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
Stage 9 - 1 min.
Towards the end of kneading, add 25 ml olive oil in a thin stream.
Stage 10
Tip: you can use the oil from the preserved (or sun-dried) tomatoes as the olive oil.
Stage 11 - 1 min.
Finish by adding ½ tablespoon dry oregano.
Stage 12 - 1 min.
Add the filling mixture...
Stage 13 - 2 min.
...and knead just enough to mix this in.
Stage 14 - 2 hours
Gather the dough into a ball, transfer to a large, clean bowl and cover with a plastic sheet.
Leave to rest for 2 hours.
Leave to rest for 2 hours.
Stage 15 - 20 min.
After resting, weigh out the dough into 300 g lumps and shape into balls. Leave these to rest for 30 minutes, covered with a plastic sheet (so that they do not form a crust).
Stage 16 - 1 hour
After this, reshape the balls and put into "bannetons" (baskets).
Leave to rise, covered with plastic as before, for 1 hour.
Leave to rise, covered with plastic as before, for 1 hour.
Stage 17 - 2 min.
Stage 18 - 25 min.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Remarks
If you don't have any oregano, you can use thyme or a mix like "herbes de Provence" instead.
The yeast can be replaced with 300 g of soured dough.
The yeast can be replaced with 300 g of soured dough.
Keeping: A few days in a cloth bag. Freezes well.
Source: Home made but dedicated to Arnaud the french-cretan guy.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 80 RDI=30 % | 470 RDI=40 % | 280 RDI=40 % | 3,000 RDI=150 % | 12,580 RDI: 150 % |
| Per 100 g | 6 RDI=3 % | 40 RDI=4 % | 20 RDI=4 % | 250 RDI=10 % | 1,060 RDI: 10 % |
| Per piece | 20 RDI=8 % | 120 RDI=10 % | 70 RDI=10 % | 750 RDI=40 % | 3,140 RDI: 40 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 4 pieces : 3.65 €
- Per piece : 0.95 €
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)
Like these other recipes: Pizza dough, Olive and pesto bread, French baguettes, Poitevin twist, Ali Baba bread, ... See them all 19
Water
Like these other recipes: Cornmeal baps for Anne, Ali Baba bread, Sausage and lentils "en cocotte", Hazelnut and orange cake, Cooking sugar, ... See them all 136
Onion
Like these other recipes: Vegetable tian, Rillettes stuffed mushrooms, Turmeric risotto, Creamy Comtoise artichoke gratin, Cured Pork Belly With Lentils, ... See them all 148
Feta
Like these other recipes: Greek style sandwiches, Kalamata Salad, Multicoloured cucumber-tomato salad, Tzatziki, Thin summer tart "à la grecque", ... See them all 25
Other recipes you may also like
Chestnut cake
This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée.May 8th 2020341 K5 1 hour 15 min.
Fruit crumble
A fruit pudding: very easy to do and delicious: just a layer of fruit with a golden crunchy topping.February 21th 2011362 K4.0 1 hour 15 min.
Epiphany galette
Here is the recipe for the very classic but delicious "galette des rois" (Epiphany galette) in puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée) with almond cream or frangipane . You will also see some professional tips to easily handle the dough, and obtain a nice and regular galette.January 1st 2025297 K 24.5 3 hours 8 min.
Caramelised apple pie
Apple pie made with caramelised apples.September 11th 2018262 K4.3 1 hour 55 min.
Toasted almond cake
A layer cake, with toasted almonds in the chocolate part.July 5th 2016246 K4.4 2 hours 2 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-06-29)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a 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.