Herb fougasse

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5 from 4 votes

This lovely loaf of bread is aromatic and with a lovely balance of crisp crust and soft inside.

Prep Time30

Cook Time15

rest time (approx)1 30

Total Time45

Course: Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: French

Servings: approx (makes 1 small loaf)

Calories: 263kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

For bread dough

210 g all purpose flour plain flour
3 g instant yeast (see notes)
4 g salt
15 ml extra virgin olive oil
135 ml warm water (135ml is appox ½ cup plus 1tbsp)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried oregano

To top

15 ml extra virgin olive oil (approx)
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (approx)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Mix together the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add the oil, water and herbs and mix everything so that it is mixed and all comes together. If you still have excess flour in the bowl, you may need a little more water but only add a little at a time.
Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface and knead around 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. If needed, add a little more flour but try not to add too much initially as you can end up adding too much. Bring together in a ball.
Lightly oil a medium-large bowl and add the ball of dough. Cover with cling wrap/film and place in a warm room temperature place and leave to double in size, around an hour.
Once the dough has doubled, remove form the bowl and lightly knock it back as you stretch it out into an oval shape, around ⅔in/2cm thick. Place the dough on a lined baking sheet.
Using a dough scraper or sharp knife, make a large cut down the middle of the dough then three cuts on either side, each without cutting through the outside of the dough. Gently stretch open each of the cuts to leave a set of slits in the dough in a leaf-like patter (see pictures above plus video).
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave to rest/rise slightly around 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 430F/220C.
Remove the cloth and brush the top of the loaf with the additional oil so that it is well coated. Sprinkle over some coarse salt to give a light dusting.
Bake the loaf for 15-20 minutes until gently golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool slightly before slicing or (as is easier) tearing into pieces.

Video

Notes

While I made this with all purpose/plain flour you could also use bread flour - with both, add a little more water or flour as needed to make a smooth dough that's not too sticky (it may be slightly sticky at first, but will become less so as you knead, so take care not to add too much flour during the initial kneading).

You can use either fast acting/instant yeast or active dry yeast for this - both are same amount. If using the latter, add the yeast to the warm water first and leave to bubble up before adding it to the dried ingredients along with the oil. It may also need slightly longer to rise.

This makes a relatively small loaf, great for snacking for as a light lunch with other additions for 4.

Nutrition