No-Knead Olive and Cheese Loaf

3.6

(280)

9 Reviews

Baking this bread in a Dutch oven gives it a deliciously crisp exterior.

Martha Stewart

Updated on September 14, 2023

Yield:

1 8-inch round loaf

Our olive-cheese loaf is a yeasted no-knead bread that's studded with green olives and pieces of Gruyère cheese. It's simple to make, but takes a while; we suggest you start the bread the day before to allow time for the slow fermentation, which is key to the crispy exterior and chewy interior of this homemade bread.

The dough is made with bread flour and yeast, and left to rise overnight. Then it's formed into a round and left for a second, much shorter rise. The loaf bakes inside a Dutch oven—that's the key to the delicious crust. It's a bread that will become your go-to, with olives and cheese or with other mix-ins.

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ teaspoon instant or active-dry yeast
1 ¾ cups ½-inch cubes aged Gruyère cheese
1 ½ cups pitted ¼-inch-thick slices green Spanish olives
1 ½ cups cool water (55 to 65 degrees), plus more as needed

Directions

Combine flour, salt and yeast; add other ingredients:

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, and yeast; stir in cheese and olives.
Add water and mix to form dough:

Add water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until a wet, sticky dough forms, about 30 seconds, adding additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed.
Cover and set aside to rise:

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and surface becomes dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.
Form dough into round:

Generously flour work surface; scrape dough onto work surface. Lightly flour hands, a bowl scraper, or a spatula and lift edges of dough toward the center. Nudge and tuck edges of dough to make round.
Wrap dough in parchment and leave to rise again:

Place a piece of parchment paper on work surface and generously dust with flour. Gently place dough on parchment, seam-side down. If dough is tacky, lightly dust top with flour. Cover dough loosely with wax paper and two clean kitchen towels. Let dough stand in a warm, draft-free spot until almost doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Check dough:

Gently poke dough with your finger; dough should hold the impression. If it springs back, let rise 15 minutes more.
Preheat oven and prep Dutch oven:

Ten minutes before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 475°F on a conventional oven (450°F on a convection oven) with a rack in the lower third. Place a covered 3 1/2-quart cast-iron or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven (with plastic handle removed and screw hole plugged with aluminum foil) in center of rack.
Place bread in Dutch oven and bake:

Using pot holders, carefully remove preheated Dutch oven from oven and uncover. Uncover bread and loosen bottom with a large spatula. With the aid of the parchment paper, invert bread into preheated Dutch oven so that it is seam-side up. Cover Dutch oven and transfer to oven; bake for 25 minutes.
Uncover and bake:

Uncover and continue baking until bread is dark brown but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more.
Remove bread from Dutch oven and cool:

Using a heatproof spatula or pot holders, gently lift bread from Dutch oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.