Olive Bread From Palm Court Is Fun and Easy to Make

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You’ll need scissors to shape this turban of olive bread created by executive chef Bob Willson of Parties Plus, a catering firm that also operates the Palm Court restaurant in West Los Angeles. Filling and shaping the dough is fun--and easy--and chef Rich Kitos of the Palm Court shows you how in the photos below.

At the restaurant, fat wedges of the light and spongy bread come to the table, not with butter, but with a small plate of extra virgin olive oil for dunking, as is customary in Italy. Beside the olive filling, which calls for ripe black and Nicoise olives, Willson’s recipe includes anchovy and sun-dried tomato fillings for variation.

PALM COURT OLIVE BREAD

3 1/2 to 4 cups bread or pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup plus 1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 package dry yeast

Nicoise Olive Filling

Combine flour and salt. Sprinkle 1/4 cup lukewarm water into yeast and stir to dissolve. Let stand 5 minutes until foamy.

To flour mixture slowly add remaining water. Knead on lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in oiled bowl, turning to coat dough evenly. Cover with clean cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in warm (85 degrees), draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Gather dough onto lightly floured board. Roll out into 36x4-inch strap. Spread Nicoise Olive Filling down center of strap. Bring long edges of strap together, pinching to seal. Coil dough tube into turban and place on oiled baking sheet. Let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size. Snip ends randomly around turban using scissors.

Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 60 minutes or until deep golden brown and hollow sounding when thumped. Let cool and slice into wedges to serve. Makes 1 loaf.

Nicoise Olive Filling

1/3 cup chopped ripe black olives

1/3 cup pitted chopped Nicoise olives

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly cracked black pepper

Combine chopped olives and place in cheesecloth strip. Twist out excess liquid and place olives in bowl. Add cheese and pepper, mixing well.

Variation:

Anchovy Filling:

Follow instructions for bread, but in place of olive filling use a combination of 1/3 cup chopped anchovies, 1 cup chopped yellow onion and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds.

Sun-Dried Tomato Filling:

Follow instructions for bread, but fill with combination of 3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes which have been soaked in water 10 minutes and drained, 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.