Olive bread is a classic for good reason, but I wanted one with a bit more going on. Za'atar was the answer. The blend of dried thyme, sumac, and toasted sesame seeds already tastes like it belongs next to olives, and a handful of fresh thyme leaves on top of that doubles down on the herb without making it taste dusty.

The olives are a Signature Reserve Pitted Marinated Olive Medley: a 7oz tub of green olives and kalamatas already sitting in oil and herbs. Because they're pitted and pre-marinated, there's no prep beyond draining and slicing, and the marinade adds flavour you'd otherwise have to build yourself. The thyme is a 0.5oz clamshell of O Organics fresh thyme, which is enough for four loaves.

Formula#

Ingredient	Weight	Baker's %
Bread flour	450g	90%
Whole wheat flour	50g	10%
Water	375g	75%
Starter (active)	100g	20%
Fine sea salt	9g	1.8%
Marinated olive medley, drained, each olive cut into 4 slices	~50g	10%
Za'atar	2 tbsp (~12g)	-
Fresh thyme leaves	1 tbsp	-

Quantities are per loaf; one 7oz tub of olives covers four loaves. Salt drops slightly to 1.8% because the olives are brined and most za'atar blends contain salt.

On the Inclusions#

Olives. Drain the olives well and pat them lightly so they aren't dripping oil into the dough. Then cut each olive into 4 slices before they go anywhere near the dough. Whole olives make big holes in the crumb and tend to fall out when you slice the loaf; quartered, they spread evenly, so every slice gets a mix of green and black. It's worth checking each one as you cut, since pitted olives occasionally hide a pit fragment.

Za'atar. Any good blend works. Look for one where you can see the sesame seeds and the deep red of the sumac. Two tablespoons gives a clear herby, tangy flavour without turning the crumb green.

Fresh thyme. Strip the leaves by running your fingers down the stem against the direction of growth; discard the woody stems. A tablespoon of leaves is plenty. Fresh thyme is brighter and more floral than the dried thyme in the za'atar, and the two together make the herb flavour feel layered rather than flat.

Mix and Bulk Fermentation#

Mix the flours with 355g of the water and autolyse for 30 to 45 minutes. Add the starter, salt, and remaining 20g of water and work them in until the dough is smooth and cohesive.

About 30 minutes into bulk, laminate. Wet your counter and stretch the dough into a thin rectangle. Sprinkle the za'atar evenly over the surface, scatter the thyme leaves over that, then dot the sliced olives across the whole sheet. Fold the dough back up into a package and return it to the bowl.

Follow with three sets of coil folds, 30 minutes apart, then leave the dough to finish bulk. It runs about 5 hours total at 76°F. Look for a 50 to 60% rise, a domed surface and bubbles along the sides.

Shaping#

Pre-shape gently and bench rest 20 minutes. Final shape into a boule, tucking any olive slices poking out of the surface underneath so they don't scorch.

Cold retard 10 to 14 hours.

Scoring and Baking#

Preheat the Dutch oven at 500°F for 45 minutes.

Turn the loaf out, dust with flour, and score. Two crossing cuts with short angled slashes around the edges give the loaf room to open up while the olives peek through the cuts.

Bake covered at 500°F for 20 minutes, then uncover, drop to 450°F, and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden. Olive pieces at the surface will darken and blister; that's part of the look. The olive oil in the dough also gives the base a deep, almost fried, mahogany colour, so check the bottom after 15 minutes uncovered and slip a baking sheet under the Dutch oven if it's getting too dark.

Cool at least 2 hours before cutting.

How to Eat It#

Torn and dipped in olive oil with an extra pinch of za'atar. With labneh or hummus. Toasted under a fried egg and crumbled feta. Or as the bread for a sandwich of roasted vegetables and halloumi.