Recipe: Dave’s Speedy No-Knead Kalamata Olive Bread

My husband, Dave, started experimenting with baking bread a few weeks into the pandemic, when we were finally able to get our hands on some flour. The first couple recipes he tried were okay, but despite my enthusiasm for the mere fact that he was making bread from scratch, he was dissatisfied. He kept talking about the “crumb,” which is apparently how serious bakers describe the combination of the crustiness and the pockets of air inside the bread.

Then one day he made the New York Times’ Speedy No-Knead Bread, and suddenly I understood what he had been trying for… now this was bread! It was hot and crusty, and so delicious right out of the oven. And the crumb, oh my!

Then, in a moment of brilliance, it dawned on me to ask if Dave could try his hand at a long-time favorite of mine: kalamata olive bread. He adapted the New York Times recipe to add sliced kalamata olives, and replaced some of the water with the kalamata-olive-infused water from the jar. And boy, did he nail it!

He’s tried making it in variety of different baking vessels, and we think a classic cast iron Dutch oven results in the best crust. This bread has become a staple in our house, and when it comes out of the oven, Jan and I practically line up for fresh, hot slices of it with butter or a side of olive oil.