Green Olive & Cheddar ‘Chop-Chop’ Bread

I got the idea for this bread in the patisserie section of a smart department store in Stockholm. Intrigued by the sound of chopping I took a peak into the kitchen and saw the baker using a metallic dough scraper rapidly to cut up his dough. He kindly explained to me the technique. I loved the informality of this recipe in which eggs, grated cheddar and olives are added to a rolled out dough and the whole mixture is then blitzed with the scraper and piled into sandwich tins to bake. The result is an irregular foccacia-type loaf with a crispy top, light texture and lots of flavour – great for dipping in olive oil mixed with some balsamic vinegar. It’s worth buying a metal dough scraper or strong plastic one for this rather than using a knife. And either will double as an excellent tool for removing frost from your windscreen in winter!

For this recipe, I use the ‘Savoury Danish’ bread dough and method.

Ingredients

400g grated cheddar cheese
200g pitted green olives in brine – fully drained.
2 large eggs

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 200ᵒC

Prepare 2 x 9” victoria sandwich tins, or same size tart rings. Grease both tins and lightly flour. Base line each tin with some non-stick parchment paper. (As the bread has both cheese and egg in it, it will tend to stick to the tin so good preparation is necessary). Depending on size of your oven, place both tins on a baking tray, or on two separate ones. If using the tart rings, line tray/s with non-stick parchment.

Method

Once dough has proven, degas and knead for 30 seconds. Roll out to a rectangle of 60cm x 40cm/ 16”x 24”approx. (If you find it is hard to roll, just let it relax for 10 minutes). Leaving a 3” – 4” border all round, sprinkle the grated cheese over dough surface. Distribute the whole olives on top.  Finally, break 1 whole egg into each ‘half’ of the triangle.

Now fold over the dough until its edges meet and all the ingredients are enclosed. Using a dough scraper – either metal or plastic – just chop every part of the dough until you obtain small pieces. The chopping action will also roughly chop the olives at the same time.  The eggs will moisten the dough and bring it together – see pictures.

Scoop up pieces of the dough into the prepared tins and distribute evenly between them. Press the dough mixture into any crevices. Cover with non-stick parchment and leave to prove for 1 hour. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes at 200ᵒC, and then lower temperature to 180ᵒC for another 20 – 25 minutes. Test for done-ness with a skewer at the 20-minute point, which should come out dry. If not, give another 5 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack.

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