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Olive and pesto bread

Name: Olive and pesto bread
Prep time: 3 h 17 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 3 h 57 min
Yield: 2 loaves
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 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; 150 g Soured dough; 200 g pesto; 200 g green olives

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.

92 K 4.0/5 (24 reviews)608527

Duration

4 hours

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: October 28^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

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: 1,320 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

30 min.

Resting

2 hours 50 min.

Cooking

40 min.

All in all

4 hours

Preparation 30 min.

Resting 2 hours 50 min.

Cooking 40 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

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

Step 1 - ⌛ 5 min.

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).

Step 2 - ⌛ 10 min.

Knead on slow speed for 10 minutes.

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

Step 3 - ⌛ 1 hour 30 min.

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.

Step 4 - ⌛ 20 min.

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.

Step 5 - ⌛ 3 min.

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).

Step 6 - ⌛ 1 min.

Place this circle of dough in the tin.

Step 7 - ⌛ 5 min.

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.

Step 8 - ⌛ 3 min.

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

Step 9 - ⌛ 1 hour

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.

Step 10 - ⌛ 40 min.

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.

Step 11

Turn out while hot.

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.

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	7 g RDI=10 %	36 g RDI=13 %	16 g RDI=22 %	316 kcal RDI=16 %	1,322 kJ RDI=16 %
Per loaves	44 g RDI=68 %	235 g RDI=89 %	107 g RDI=146 %	2,083 kcal RDI=104 %	8,722 kJ RDI=104 %
Whole recipe	89 g RDI=136 %	471 g RDI=178 %	214 g RDI=293 %	4,167 kcal RDI=208 %	17,445 kJ RDI=208 %