I absolutely looooove olives. I am the person standing next to the olive dish at parties. Not the cheese tray or even the spiced nut bowl- the olive dish. There is something about a nice, salty, briny olive that really does it for me. And paired with rosemary and used in a nice focaccia or savory dish- I’m there!
Now let me just start off by saying that although these Rosemary Olive Knots are good and quite easy to prepare, the Rosemary Olive Focaccia I’ve posted about is hands down better. I don’t think I have made another yeast bread that quite compares to how amazing that Focaccia is. It was truly incredible.
I made these back a few months when my stand mixer was broken and I didn’t have the desire to knead bread by hand. These are thrown together so quickly and simply in the food processor, anybody could make them. Even knotting them together is easy-
Turn the risen dough out onto a counter and shape it into a square,
then gently press the delicious olive-rosemary filling onto one half side.
Fold the plain half over the empty half and press the edges together gently.
Divide the dough into pieces by creating 12 strips with a pizza wheel.
Take each dough strip and very loosely tie them into knots.
Then they rise until they are ready to bake!
Not to hard right?
And what you’re left with are these beautiful rolls that are deliciously tender and soft,
filled with pockets of flavorful rosemary and olives. SO GOOD!!!
For the time and effort put into these rolls, and the fabulous outcome, you really can’t go wrong with these!
- For the Dough:
- 3½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2½ tsp active dry yeast (1 envelope)
- 1½ cups warm water, about 110 degrees F
- 3 Tb olive oil
- For the Filling:
- ½ cup pitted Gaeta or Kalamata olives, cut into ¼” slices
- 3 Tb chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 Tb olive oil
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse several times to mix.
- Whisk the yeast into the water in a small bowl and whisk in the oil. Pour the liquid into the processor bowl and pulse until the dough forms a ball. Let rest 10 minutes, then let the machine run continuously for 15 seconds.
- Invert the food processor bowl over a lightly floured surface to turn out the dough. Use a bench scraper to fold the dough over on itself several times. Place the dough into an oiled bowl and turn it over so that the top is oiled. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Scrape the dough to a well floured work surface and flour the top of the dough. Pat dough into a 10″ square. Fold dough in thirds and slide both hands under it, then transfer it to a floured cookie sheet or cutting board. Unfold the dough, even out the shape, and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until it firms up, about 1 hour.
- While the dough is chilling, for the filling, place the olives, rosemary, oil, and pepper in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- When the dough is firm, remove it from the refrigerator, leaving it on the pan or cutting board. Evenly distribute the filling on the bottom half of the dough in a 5×10-inch rectangle. Fold the top half of the dough down over the filling without pulling on it or stretching it, and press well with the palms of your hands to adhere.
- Use a sharp pizza wheel to cut dough into 12 equal strips, each about ¾” wide and 5″ long. Set a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicone mat next to the dough. One at a time, loosely knot the strips of dough. Transfer them to the prepared pan as each is knotted.
- Cover the pan with a towel or oiled plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until they have doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- About 20 minutes before the rolls are completely risen, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 °F.
- Bake rolls until they are well rised, deep golden, and feel firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack, serve warm.
Adapted from Nick Malgieri “The Modern Baker”
