Fougasse Bread

Have you heard of (or let alone pronouncing) this  flat-bread  from southern France called Fougasse. 

When I saw this bread I was fascinated with its shape and was quite determine to bake it.  Sure glad  I baked it, the bread is so soft yet chewy and flavorful, thanks to the olives.

Just a small reminder, the dough is extremely sticky if you are planning to knead by hand, I used my bread maker to knead it. 

For the Poolish
165 g  bread flour
165 g lukewarm water
1 tsp dried yeast

For the dough
310 g bread flour
185 g  lukewarm water
25 g rye flour (or bread flour)
1 tsp salt

For an olive filling

200 g (7 oz) olives, green or black or a mixture - I halved the amount
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs

Prepare the Poolish
Add the yeast to the water, mix and leave for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
Mix the yeast/water with the flour to form a soft paste. Cover and leave for about 2 hours at room temperature. The Poolish is ready when it has large bubbles in it and looks like it is about to collapse.

Prepare the filling
Mix the filling ingredients together and leave to marinate for 2 hours while the poolish is fermenting.

                                   

Prepare the dough
Dilute the Poolish with the water and stir to produce a smooth liquid slurry.
 In your bread maker basin, mix together the flours and salt. Make a well in the centre and add the diluted Poolish.   Press the knead button and let the machine mix  to a soft and sticky dough for about 15 min.

Place the dough on a floured surface and spread it out. Tip the filling on top, fold the dough over and, with the aid of a scraper, work the dough until all the filling is incorporated into the dough.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, for about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and divide it in two. Shape each piece into a ball.

Take each piece of dough in turn and roll out to about 1 cm (3/8″) thick. Make cuts in the dough using your plastic scraper and pull the dough apart to open up the holes. 

Transfer the dough to a well-greased baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet in a large plastic bag or cover with oiled plastic film. 
Leave in a warm place for 45-60 minutes to prove.

Bake the Fougasse at 220°C/430°F fan oven, 240°C/465°F conventional oven for 8-10 minutes until puffed up and lightly browned.

Transfer the Fougasse to a wire rack and brush lightly with olive oil while still hot. Leave to cool.

Enjoy..jue

adapted from the bread kitchen