Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread

This Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread packs so much flavour and it is easy to make, it just makes my heart and mouth sing. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool down before diving into it. Serve it with soups, eat it as a sandwich, top it with herb butter, or gobble just as is, all options work for this soda bread. It is also a good starter bread if you are freshly venturing into the bread baking world. 

This is a milestone post, it is my first savoury recipe on this blog, yay! And I tell you, it is a mouthwateringly good one. This flavour bomb of a bread will be the centerpiece of your whole meal (or at least according to my most seasoned taster, my boyfriend). This Soda Bread took me a lot of tries to get it perfect (first, not enough salt, then a broken oven, next, not enough right kind of cheese, etc.). But when I finally got it to work, oh my. My taste buds exploded.

What is this Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive bread like? Like a regular soda bread, the texture under the crisp golden brown crust is a dense tight crumb but at the same time it is also soft and light. The dough is laced with delicious flavours that remind me of Mediterranean food. Even if you do not like olives, please do try it out and add them. Other olive haters have enjoyed this soda bread without picking out the little rascals. Anyways, as with all delicious oven warm breads, it probably will be quickly devoured without any crumbs left behind.

I enjoyed my Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread next to my favourite roasted pumpkin soup and I topped it with some homemade herb butter. For my homemade herb butter, I use the fresh herbs from my garden. I make my simple herb butter by mixing 100 grams of room temperature butter with 1 clove of minced garlic, a bit of sea salt, and about a tablespoon of fresh herbs. This time I went for fresh basil, parsley and chives.

I hope you enjoy this Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread recipe! Do let me know in the comments below how it turned out for you, I am curious to know how your taste buds reacted to it!

This recipe was inspired by a soda bread recipe from FabFood4All . 

Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread

This one bowl Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Soda Bread packs a lot of flavour and is a very good first bread to bake if you have no experience with bread before. Serve it with soups, eat it as a sandwich, top it with herb butter or gobble just as is, all options work.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine British

Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

  

• 150 grams all purpose flour (and a bit more for dusting)
• 120 grams whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 grams mature cheese grated (I used Dutch Gouda jong belegen cheese)
• 50 grams sun-dried tomatoes chopped (dry-packed ones; or very well-dried ones stored in oil)
• 40 grams red onion chopped (about half a small red onion)
• 35 grams black olives chopped (around 10 - 15 olives)
• 200 ml beer (I used cheap lager)

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and cover a baking sheet with baking paper. Dust the baking paper with some flour.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flours, baking soda, basil, oregano, and salt.
• Add to the dry mixture grated cheese, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, onion, and olives. Mix well.
  
• Pour in the beer and mix with a wooden spoon until a uniform claggy dough forms and most of the flour is mixed in. If the dough is too dry, add more beer. If it is too wet, add more flour. But do not overmix the dough! As with many other recipes that use baking soda or baking powder, overmixing results in a tough dough. A few lumps here and there are fine.
  
• Shape the dough into a ball and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Dust the top of the bread with some flour and cut a deep cross on top of the bread.
  
• Bake for about 30 - 38 minutes or until the bread crust is evenly golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when you knock it at the bottom.
  
• Let it cool completely before cutting into it to ensure the soft bready texture. Store it wrapped in a towel or a bread bag. Best eaten fresh but keeps for about a day or two.
  

Keyword bread, olives, soda bread, sun-dried tomatoes

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

I would love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below, Pin it or share a picture on Instagram by tagging @maribakesbymari.

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