Step by step recipes with pictures: Rustic whole wheat bread recipe

I've always found it easy to learn cooking something if it was one of those step by step recipes with pictures, because being able to visualize all the steps a certain recipe has, makes things a lot more clear.

Making bread at home can be a challenge for most of the people, but this rustic whole wheat bread recipe, inspired by an olive rustic Italian bread recipe, is really simple and the outcome is not just delicious, but also healthy, as the whole wheat has so many benefits.

The flavor of the freshly made bread, the crispy crust, the texture and the satisfaction of having it made by yourself, will definitely convince you to repeat the experience.

The recipe is very simple and fast, the dough is the traditional rustic bread dough, only it's enriched with olive and the baking pattern is a little bit changed.

Ingredients:

• 500 g whole wheat flour
• 320 ml warm water
• 15 gr fresh yeast / 4 g dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey / sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 100-125 gr black olives

If you do not like olives you can do with nuts, dried tomatoes cut into small pieces, various seeds (flax, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.), with a mix of herbs (sage, rosemary, oregano ).

Put flour in a bowl and make a hole in its center. Rub the yeast with 1 teaspoon honey or sugar and then mix with warm water (not hot!).Pour water in the center of flour and mix until the dough catches a little consistency. Then add olives cut into thin slices and to the dough.Mix with a wooden spoon because the dough is very soft and sticky, until the olives are completely embedded in the dough.

Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for 2 hours.

With 20 minutes before the end of the period of leavening, we put in a the oven a pot with high walls (about 30 cm high and 24 cm in diameter) of stainless steel, and with a lid on, and preheat it to 420 ° F.

Tip over the dough on a work area, well dusted with flour (the dough is quite soft, although it is elastic) and give it a round shape.

When the oven temperature reached 420 ° F, carefully remove the pot (be careful not to get burnt as it is extremely hot), remove the lid, put the dough inside, and put the lid, then quickly in the oven.Bake it for 40 minutes at 420 ° F, then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes to give it a nice color.

After the bake time is over, remove the pot from the oven, let it cool about 10-15 minutes in an upright position. In this way, the shell will remain crispy after complete cooling.