Provençal Olive Fougasse for French Fridays

I've been organizing my pictures from our Scotland/Ireland golf trip this week, selecting a few for my post on our trip to Ireland which I will share next week.  I find getting back to my routine after an extended vacation is difficult especially finding time to catch up with my blog and all my friend's blogs.  I'm slowly but steadily getting back up to speed.  This French Fridays with Dorie recipe for Provençal Olive Fougasse from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan is one from the book that I've looked forward to baking.  I also didn't want to miss another French Friday as I've missed quite a few because of my travels.  I was so happy with my olive fougasse that I think I've found a new favorite appetizer that very happily goes with a slice of soft goat cheese, a glass of wine and a few nibbles of olives.  Especially love the crispy edges of  Provençal Olive Fougasse smeared with a lump of soft goat cheese.  I took a bite, closed my eyes and for a minute imagined I was in the South of France sitting outside at a café with friends enjoying a warm Summer evening with a chilled glass of rosé in front of me.  Fougasse is a type of flat bread associated with Provençe where the addition of olives and fresh herbs such as rosemary is quite common.  One of it's characteristics is a pattern resembling a leaf or ear of wheat that is slashed into the rectangular shaped dough before baking. The bread is rustic,easy to make and fun to serve with cheese or olives as an appetizer.  As we have been asked not to write out the recipes for FFWD I will share a link to Dorie's recipe at Serious Eats which is from Around My French Table and exactly the same recipe I used to made my olive fougasse.

A few notes on making olive fougasse that I want to share, first off the dough can be made the day before and held in the refrigerator over night.  The next day shape and bake off your bread, which I think is very convenient for entertaining.  The loaves can be served whole and guests should tear off pieces to nibble.  I would serve fougasse with wine, olives and goat cheese before dinner as a beautiful Summer appetizer.  Another way to vary the recipe is to use different types of salt to sprinkle on top before baking.  I used black truffle salt which tasted delicious with the chopped oil-cured black olives blended into the fougasse dough.  Also, don't worry about creating a perfect shape or the slashes you make in the dough, this is supposed to be a rustic flat bread.

I enjoyed making my fougasse this week, please check out the other contributors to this week's French Fridays with Dorie and find inspiration for your own Provençal Olive Fougasse.