Fougasse (Flatbread)
Provençal flatbread with black olives and herbs, slashed into a leaf shape and baked until deep golden and crisp. The inside is soft, airy and fragrant with olive oil and herbs. Best eaten warm, pulled apart at the table!
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 gr plain flour
- 325 ml water lukewarm
- 7 gr instant dry yeast or 15g fresh yeast
- 10 gr salt
- 25 ml olive oil extra virgin
For the filling
- 100 gr black olives pitted and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
For finishing
- olive oil extra virgin, for brushing
- flaky salt
Instructions
1. Make the dough
- Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl (keeping the salt and yeast apart at first). Add the warm water and olive oil and bring together into a dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Knead in the olives and herbs now if using.
2. First prove
- Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size, about 1 to 1½ hours.
3. Shape
- Tip out and divide in two. Gently stretch each piece into a flattish oval or leaf shape, about 1.5cm thick, on a lined baking tray.
4. Slash
- With a sharp knife or scraper, cut slashes through the dough: one down the centre, several angled off it like leaf veins. Cut all the way through, then pull each slash wide open with your fingers.
5. Second prove
- Cover loosely and prove for another 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220°C fan (240°C conventional).
6. Bake
- Brush with olive oil and scatter with flaky salt (and extra herbs or olives if you like). Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until deep golden and crisp, and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
7. Cool and serve
- Cool briefly on a rack. Serve warm, torn into pieces rather than cut.
Notes
- Cut the slashes wide open, right through to the tray, and stretch them, since they shrink back as the dough proves and bakes.
- Good olive oil matters in a Provençal bread, in the dough and brushed on top.
- Bake it hot for the crispest crust. A preheated baking stone crisps the base beautifully.
- Best eaten fresh the same day. Freezes well; reheat from frozen in a hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Make it a meal with a green salad, or tear it at apéro with a glass of rosé.