This holiday season, let’s not forget about olives! (Also, scroll down to the bottom of this post for a fun giveaway.)
(This post is sponsored by my friends at Mezzetta, but my love for their olives is all my own! ❤️)
Okay, let’s get all of your “Olivia likes olives” jokes out of the way. Ready? Go!
Good! Now we can move forward and talk about this delicious Mediterranean Black Olive Bread, because I’ve been OBSESSED with it. As in, “I’ve made this bread twice in the past 7 days” obsessed!
Seriously, who buys bread from the supermarket when you can make this at home? (Actually, me! I buy a lot of bread… But that doesn’t help my case, does it?)
And before you start freaking out at the slightest idea of baking homemade bread, let me throw some words your way:
- Easy!
- Only 5 ingredients.
- No knead (You haven’t been to the gym in months and don’t have the muscles to knead bread? Don’t worry, me neither!)
- Made with the aid of your standing mixer. (You can definitely do it by hand, no muscles necessary, but let me be lazy and make my Kitchen Aid work a little.)
- No special tools other than a dutch oven.
I don’t know about you, but the smell of baking bread coming out of the oven is one of my favorite smells in the whole world, along with the smell of freshly laundered clothes and freshly brewed coffee.
Plus the olives take it up a notch making the whole apartment smell like pure heaven! mmmmmm ??? It invokes all sorts of feelings deep inside me, like coziness, happiness and love. ❤️
Call me a hippie, but baking someone homemade bread is the ultimate love gesture, don’t you think? Maybe it’s the sharing nature that is inherent to every loaf of bread – after all, who eats a whole loaf of bread by themselves? (Answer: me!?) – or maybe it’s the passion that goes into the baking itself, because nobody bakes bread because they have to (unless they are a professional baker).
Not to mention people think you are a genius when they taste homemade bread. And it turns out that all you did was mix 5 ingredients in a bowl, walked away for 10 hours, came back to put the bread in the oven and the oven did all the rest of the work! And now people think you’re some sort of Ina Garten? I’ll take it!
And because of all that, I think the holiday season is the best time to make bread. It doesn’t matter if it’s because you are having neighbors for a cup of coffee in the afternoon or to serve at your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, a loaf of crusty homemade olive bread just makes people feel like they are special.
I’m sure that by now you’ve noticed how much I love Mezzetta products, after all they’ve appeared on this blog a handful of times.
Mezzetta sources the finest fresh produce from the sun-drenched soils of California, Italy, Spain, France, and Greece and prepares them according to Italian family recipes at its state-of-the-art production facility in the Napa Valley. No wonder they are the leading producer of glass-packed peppers, olives, and specialty foods in the United States.
Whether you are looking for a quick healthy snack or gourmet ingredients for your favorite dishes—reach for a jar of Mezzetta specialty foods at your local grocery store and see the difference a little love of food can make.
I know it makes a whole lot of difference in this black olive bread!
What makes this bread so incredible is the fact that a virtually foolproof recipe produces a fine-bakery quality loaf. I really think bakers were holding on to this secret for ages (probably hidden with the Da Vinci code in the Vatican, or something!) so they could keep their jobs!
The only challenge here is the patience to wait for the long, slow fermentation, which is critical for a light, flavorful loaf with an enviable, crackling crust. But it’s so worth it, you gotta believe me!
Seriously, make this! Make this NOW! It will blow your mind. And maybe you’ll love it so much that a Mediterranean black olive bread will be your new holiday tradition!
Oh, and before I forget: (Who am I kidding? I would never forget something as cool as this!)
To make your holidays even more memorable, Mezzetta is hosting The Holiday Memories Sweepstakes, where you can win some pretty amazing prizes, like:
- Grand Prize (1) – Instant Print Digital Camera plus a Ultimate Olive Lover’s Gift Basket including Mezzetta Olives, Olive Spoon, Cutting Board, Olive Bowl, Cocktail Napkins and Recipe Card.
- Runner Up Prizes (10) – Ultimate Olive Lover’s Gift Basket including Mezzetta Olives, Olive Spoon, Cutting Board, Olive Bowl, Cocktail Napkins and Recipe Card.
Click HERE to enter! Good luck!
And happy bread baking! ?
- ¾ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1½ cups lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 cup chopped Mezzetta pitted Kalamata olives
- In a medium bowl, combine the yeast and the warm water. Cover with plastic or with a kitchen towel and let it proof for at least 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the salt and the bread flour. Mix on low, with the paddle attachment, just to combine.
- Add the yeast/water mixture and mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Cover bowl with plastic and let the dough rise at a warm place (inside of the microwave - turned off! -, for example) for 10 to 24 hours. (See notes!)
- Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Place a 4qt Dutch oven into the preheated oven, without the lid, for 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roughly press the dough into a flat rectangle. Sprinkle ⅓ of the chopped olives on top and fold the dough once, hiding the olives and pressing down again to form another flat shape. Repeat two more times until you've used all the olives. Then, form a ball with floured hands. Cover the dough loosely with plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes (another hour or two recommended), until doubled in size, while the dutch oven preheats.
- Once the Dutch oven has preheated, transfer the dough ball into the heated Dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake, uncovered, for 15 more minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
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I love this bread, Olivia! I love olives and I love Mezzetta. Have you tried their Castelvetrano olives? Heaven!
Thanks, Christine! :) I love all their olives. They are all so delicious!
Would I need to oil the dutch oven so the dough won’t stick? My brain tells me I’ll be sorry I did all of this work If I don’t.
no, crust will b too hard.. I put down a round piece of oarchment
No shape the loaf on parchment paper and when the Dutch oven is preheated just transfer the paper with the loaf on it to the Dutch oven, works great
Baking bread is totally my happy place. There is something very therapeutic in the whole process.. but, don’t get me wrong, I still love to bake breads that don’t require the “whole process”! This bread is fabulous, Olivia! My hubs is an olive freak so he for sure would love this! Mezzetta olives are the jam, and I can just imagine how Yumm they are in this easy peasy, carba-licious loaf! SO good! Cheers, my dear and happy early Thanksgiving! <3
I agree! Baking bread is my happy place too! :) Thanks so much for your kind words, darling! And happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
That wouldn’t last two minutes in my house at the moment. My son is going through a growth spurt and eating like it’s going out of fashion. I’m sure he has hollow legs. He loves olives so would devour at least half of this loaf before I managed to have a slice!
Isn’t no knead bread magic?
That’s kind of bread that I can eat all alone! I love bread and olives also, so this is a kind of perfect match for every hour of the day
Can you make this in a regular oven and not a dutch oven? What is the benefit of using a dutch oven?
Your pictures look awesome but I got a completely different texture for some reason. The dough was really sticky, but I followed the recipe exactly. What did I do wrong?
Oh no, Chelsea! I’m sorry to hear that. Do you mean the final bread is sticky? If that’s the case, maybe you should bake it longer? Tt depends on the weather, the humidity, maybe even the type of flour you’re using. Now, if you mean the dough, this dough is stickier than a knead dough. If you’re having difficulty handling it – since the no-knead bread is so loose and sticky – some people find that it’s easier to work with it if you refrigerate the dough for at least an hour beforehand. You could also make the dough one day, refrigerate it overnight, and then add the olives and bake the bread the next day. It might even improve the flavor! I hope this helps. You can always shoot me an email at oliviascuisine@gmail.com and we can try to troubleshoot further. :)
I also got the really sticky result. I wondered where Chelsea lives? I’m in Key West, FL, so definitely it’s humid here. If humidity is the issue, should I maybe have covered with a cloth while rising?
add a little more flour. I have been making a bread similar to this for a year. I got it off of sbcanning website . its called 4 ingredient bread. made a little different but so dang good. I now sell it to my friends who love it. give it a try. good luck
I ended up making this in my roaster since I don’t own a Dutch oven. It turned out great! Looked exactly like the picture. Will make again for sure. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe was easy to follow and the bread has perfect texture and flavor. I’m trying hard not to eat half of the loaf! Thank you!
I am excited to make this recipe.
What kind of bread flour do you use? Will the recipe/texture be different if I used whole wheat bread flour? Thank you.
Hi Jenn, I use bread flour. I never tried with whole wheat but you can certainly try. You might need to adjust the ingredients. :)
Hi Olivia!
I made this recipe at home and it didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.
I’m not sure if it was the flour I used because it was a bread making type but when the bread had cooked mine looked more like a whole wheat type of bread. It was my first time making bread do you have any tips for a bread making newbie? :) Thank you!
Oh no, Sarena! I’m sorry to hear that. What was wrong with it? Maybe I can help you troubleshoot. Bread baking is a labor of love, for sure, and will get better with practice. :)
This bread recipe is exactly what I’m looking for and looks delicious! But if I don’t have a Dutch oven is there anything that can be done instead?
Olivia ,
What altitude are you baking at? I live at 7800 ft and am learning how to adjust bread recipes for my altitude. Recent honey oat came out perfect after knowing what adjustments to make.
Thank you
We’re pretty much at sea level. 33′ according to Mr Google! ;-)
Made this today. Quite good. I was wondering if you had any ideas on a spread that might go good on this. Yes, it is good enough to eat bare… but can’t help but think it would be amazing with something on it too.
Hmm, I think it would go great with caponata! Or maybe an onion dip? Oh I’m getting hungry just imagining the options! 😂
Mind Blown! wow. Restaurant quality bread so easy! I am a home cook, not a chef… so I really enjoy finding and making other peoples creations… and I look for the best of the best. This is without a doubt, a winner. I have been making 5 minute bread for a few years now and this is by far the best one. …from 10 hours in, sneaking whiffs of the intoxicating fermentation… I cannot tell you how excited I was to get this baking! I would not even consider changing a thing for this version… After it was done, I let it cool… I thought the first day it was fresh, moist, spongy and very tasty. I kept this on my counter, on a bread board loosely covering the cut side with foil, with a bread knife and a bottle of olive oil. Over the course of a couple days the crust dried only slightly, the exposed part did not at all. The texture transformed to a slightly chewier, more firm crumb. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for the feedback! This bread is a favorite here and I’m glad you enjoyed it. :)
Hi there, I want to make this bread this coming weekend, I have a couple of questions, i don’t have a Dutch oven, what can I bake the bread in? Hope I can still make this , I own a small brevile toaster over which is great and things come out amazing, so how do I make this?
Hi Joelle, for this kind of bread you would need an ovenproof pot (that resists high temperatures) with a lid. I’ve always baked in a Dutch oven, but I know some people use clay pots. I hope that helps! :)
Thank you! It does help! I am preparing the dough for my third bread! I love it and as a weight watchers person it is also healthy and low in points, I do have one more question, I proof the yeast as you say with warm water, but as far as I know yeast need sugar usually to be proofed, just wonder how come we do it with only water?
Can this bread be frozen for future use?
Olivia, great recipe! I have a question. Can the olives be tossed into the mixture at the beginning or is it important that they are folded into the dough just before baking?
Thanks,
Leo