Olive Semi - Sourdough Boule

Total Time: 3 hrs 50 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 4 cups whole wheat bread flour
• 1/3 cup fine cornmeal
• 1/3 cup potato flour
• 1/2 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 2/3 cup mature sourdough starter (fed)
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 175 g sun-dried olives, chopped (packed in oil, drained)

Recipe

• 1 in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, potato flour, yeast, fennel seed and basil.
• 2 add the sourdough starter, water, oil and honey.
• 3 begin kneading with the dough hook on low speed.
• 4 knead for 10 minutes, then add the olives and knead 2 minutes more.
• 5 cover and let rest 45 minutes.
• 6 stir down and scrape into a bowl lined with a well-floured tea towel or a round brotform.
• 7 cover and let rest 1 hour.
• 8 preheat the oven to 450f and place a pan of hot water on the lowest rack.
• 9 place a greased baking sheet over the loaf in the bowl and flip out. remove the towel.
• 10 slash the top of the loaf 3-4 times and place in the oven.
• 11 immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400f and bake for 20 minutes.
• 12 remove the pan of water and continue baking for 30 minutes longer.
• 13 slide immediately onto a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.