Cretan Bread
This Cretan (or Cretan-style) bread has a soft dough, enriched with olive oil, preserved tomatoes, green olives and cooked onions.
105 K 4.1/5 (24 reviews)
4 hours 30 min.
Easy
7.30 €
8 pieces
12 IngredientsLast modified on: October 24th 2017
For 8 pieces, you will need:
- 1
150 g green olives - 2
150 g onion - 3
2 tablespoons olive oil - 4
150 g feta - 5
150 g preserved tomatoes - 6
1 kg plain white flour (French Type 65) - 7
650 ml water - 8
18 g fine (or table) salt - 9
15 g yeast - 10
100 g leaven (optional) - 11 50 g olive oil
- 12
1 tablespoon dry oregano - Total weight: 2,380 grams
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 150 g green olives.
Stage 3 - ⌛ 3 min.
Pour 2 tablespoons 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, 150 g feta and 150 g 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: 1 kg plain white flour (French Type 65) *, 650 ml water, 18 g fine (or table) salt, 15 g yeast and 100 g 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 50 g 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 1 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 | 160 RDI=60 % | 940 RDI=90 % | 560 RDI=90 % | 6,010 RDI=300 % | 25,150 RDI: 300 % |
| 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 8 pieces : 7.30 €
- 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: New leavened bread, Jura bread, Hamburger buns, Mixed seed grissini, Benoîton, ... See them all 19
Water
Like these other recipes: Papadums, Special small breads, Turnip top soup, Sugar syrup, Citrus crunch, ... See them all 141
Onion
Like these other recipes: Individual creamy endive gratins, Lumberjack turnovers, Leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup, Potimarron and celeriac autumn soup, Pea risotto "Mantecare", ... See them all 152
Feta
Like these other recipes: Lumberjack turnovers, Green beans with feta cream and cherry tomatoes, Greek Pesto, Feta and spinach brik pie, Feta in olive oil with herbs, ... See them all 27
Other recipes you may also like
How to keep a tart pastry case crisp
The problem with tarts, and fruit tarts in particular, is that the filling (fruit, cream or whatever) ends up soaking into the pastry and turns it soft. Here is a professional tip for avoiding this problem: spread a thin layer of white chocolate, which does not have a strong flavour, in the bottom of the tart. This seals the pastry and it will stay crisp. French pastry chef have a verb for that, it's "chablonner". June 12th 2013184 K4.7 1 hour
Poire Belle Hélène
Poire Belle Hélène is a fairly simple cold dessert. The pears are poached in a vanilla-flavoured syrup, then served on top of vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce poured over. November 22th 202394 K4.7 20 min.
Grandma Solange's biscuits
These biscuits are very simple to make and delicious with tea or coffee. They are easy enough for children to enjoy making them. November 12th 201481 K4.1 45 min.
Creamy Winter Vegetable Soup
This is a very simple recipe: lots of winter vegetables cooked in chicken stock, then blended. The soup's special finishing touch comes from cream and a spoonful of mustard. January 14th 201598 K5 1 hour 25 min.
Stuffed cabbage leaves
The French classic "chou farci" is made with large green cabbage leaves which are blanched before being rolled into parcels around a sausage meat and cheese filling, then baked in the oven. February 1st 2015257 K5 1 hour 25 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2026-02-15)
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.