Tomato & Olive bread - an experiment

My good friend Colin set me a challenge to invent a bread which I should make when I get out of hospital. With the dire food I'm experiencing, it has been a challenge to think of tasty foods. I don't know if it will work out, especially with the liquid measurements, but I will find out when I make it and adjust. If you fancy trying it out, let me know how you get on.

This recipe comes from my favourite of foods: the tomato. It comes from a recipe I taught myself years ago as a pasta sauce. I thought: why not make a bread out of it. It would be ideal with a fresh green salad, soft cheeses and smoked hams or salami.

Formula
Flour: 100% (soaker 100g; poolish 300g; final build 1046g: 1446g)
Liquid: 65% (soaker 100g; poolish 240g; tomato sauce ~500g; final build 100g: 940g)
Salt: 2% ( tomato sauce 7g; final build 22g)
Yeast: 1.65% ( poolish yeast 3g; final build 21g)

Makes two or three loaves

Process
The night before:
20:00 Prepare the soaker

The following day:
08:00 Prepare the Poolish
09:00 Prepare the Tomato and Olive sauce
12:00 Build the loaf
~16:00 Baking
~19:00 Eating

Soaker
100g cornmeal
100g water at room temperature
Mix in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature overnight (~12 hours).

Poolish
300g white wheat flour
240g water at room temperature (80% hydration)
3g fresh yeast

Add yeast to 100g of water to dissolve, then add to the flour and remaining water in a bowl. Mix until the flour is all absorbed, then cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for ~4 hours. It should have bubbles on top and be quite aerated.

Tomato and Olive sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium finely chopped Makói onion (firm and brown/purple skin)
6 cloves garlic, sliced then crushed with the back of a chopping knife
400g tinned best Italian plum tomatoes roughly chopped
15-20 stoned and halved Kalamata olives.
1-2 tablespoons Balsamico di Modena
4-6 sliced fresh basil leaves
Maldon sea salt (to taste, ~7g)
Black peppercorns, freshly ground to taste

In a thick based pan add the olive oil. Add garlic first, then the onion over a low heat. The onion and garlic should have a coating of oil and should cook slowly and sweat, if there is any sign of caramelisation add more oil. Stir frequently. When the onions are soft add the tomato and raise the heat to medium. Add the olives. When close to the boil, lower to a simmer. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-20 minutes. Slice the basil leaves and add. Stir and when the basil leaves have darkened and softened take off the heat, add extra salt if needed. Allow to cool.

Building the loaf
1046g white wheat flour
22g salt
21g fresh yeast
100g water at room temperature

Mixing
Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and mix.
Pour the yeast into the water until it dissolves, then add to the flour mixture.
Add the poolish, soaker and tomato and olive sauce.
Stir the ingredients until all the flour has been absorbed. Cover.
Let it stand for 10-30 minutes to hydrate.

Kneading and proofing
Empty the mixture onto a lightly oiled work surface.
Form the dough into a ball and knead the dough away from you, then folding it back towards the centre. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat. After 12 iterations, form into a ball and return, seam down, to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. Repeat this process 3 times, then let the dough proof for an additional hour.

Shaping
Split the dough into equal pieces by weight, it should make 2 or 3 small loaves.
For each piece form into a boule, by rolling into a ball. Grab the opposite side, stretch it away a bit then bring it into the middle and press it down. Rotate the dough by 90 degrees and repeat until the dough feels tight. Place in a proofing basket lined with a tea towel covered in either durum flour or white wheat flour. Cover with plastic wrap lightly oiled with spray olive oil. Allow to rise for about 60-90 minutes.

Baking
Start fan assisted oven at 220C 45 minutes prior to baking.

When the dough has risen until about double the size, carefully roll the loaves out onto a greaseproof paper on a baking tray (or a peel with coarse durum flour).  Score the loaves with a cross and place into the oven (or onto a baking stone). Spray some water into the oven when putting the bread in.

After about 10 minutes the yeast will be dead and the oven spring will stop. You can lower the heat to 200-210C.

Bake for about 40 minutes for smaller loaves, 60-70 minutes for a big one. If the top starts to darken too quickly, turn off the fan and cover the loaf with a bit of tin foil.

When the loaf is ready is should give a hollow sound on the base when knocked, if not, put back for 3-5 minutes. Alternatively measure the internal temperature of the loaf, it should read about 93C when ready.

Let it cool on a rack for about 2 hours before slicing. Don't be tempted to cut it early, it is still cooking at this time.

Serve with a fresh green salad and creamy cheeses, smoked hams or salami.

Notes
The amount of salt needed for the tomato sauce is an estimate, adjust the amount of salt in the final build accordingly.
The liquid content of the tomato sauce is estimated, if the dough is very sticky, add more flour (carefully) if too dry add some water or even olive oil at the kneading stage.