No-Knead Mediterranean Olive Bread

This is basically ciabatta bread .... well, at least as far as the texture is concerned, this is ciabatta bread. 

I had never tried to make ciabatta bread as it seemed to be a very complicated and messy job. 

However, when I came across this "no-knead" recipe, I thought I would have a go. It was so easy to make. 

It doesn't need any effort at all, it just needs plenty of time. I left the dough overnight for 14 hours before shaping the dough into a flat rugby ball. The result was so much better than I expected. The loaf has a bubbly interior which ciabatta bread should have, and a very moist and chewy texture. 

It would be quite impressive if you presented this at a dinner party saying "I baked this, actually." 

Ingredients 

• 400g strong white flour 
  

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp fast-action dried yeast

• zest of 1 lemon

• 120g your choice of olives

• 1 Tbsp (15ml) olive oil

• 350ml water

Method 

1. Mix flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl.
2. Add thyme and lemon zest and mix.
3. Add roughly chopped olives to the dried mixture and mix.
4. Pour olive oil and water and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula to form a ball in the bowl.
5. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 12 to 24 hours.  
6. Flour the worktop and tip the dough out of the bowl and shape it as a ball, but you don't need to knead nor knock down the air.
7. Either cut the dough in two and make two oval shapes or simply keep it as one long oval shape.
8. Place the dough on parchment paper and cover the dough with a tea towel and prove the dough for 1 ½ hour.
9. Meanwhile, put a clay pot with a lid (or any baking pot with a lid) in the oven and preheat the oven as hot as you can. I preheated to 230C .
10. Take the hot baking pot out of the oven and place the dough in the pot with the parchment paper and put the lid on.
11. Place the pot in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Then take the lid off and bake for another 10 minutes.