It’s Friday, and that means it’s once again time for French Fridays with Dorie! This week’s recipe is Provençal Olive Fougasse. A fougasse is a rustic flatbread hailing from the Provence region of France, with roots similar to the Italian focaccia. Fougasse are generally shaped to look like a leaf or stalk of wheat, but Dorie gives us permission to shape it however we’d like. This particular fougasse is flavored with chopped rosemary and lemon zest, and studded with olives.
As I was deciding how to serve Provençal Olive Fougasse, I keyed in on Dorie’s statement that her favorite way to eat it is on a picnic. While an actual picnic wasn’t in the cards for us, I created a “table top picnic” with cheese (Midnight Moon), salami, and roasted peppers. Extra olive oil for dipping was a must! The only thing missing from this spread was a glass of wine, which, for a variety of reasons, was not an option this week.
My bread challenge came in handy with this recipe. It is really helping me gain confidence in my bread-making skills and I am finally getting a feel for when the dough has been kneaded enough. For those of you who have been following my bread challenge, the only adjustment I made to this recipe was to add an extra tablespoon of water. I did not make any changes to rising times since this bread dough rests overnight in the refrigerator after the initial rise.
We loved this bread! I liked the soft, yet chewy texture and the blend of flavors. My husband specifically commented on the salty topping, and he is always happy to dip his bread in olive oil. I also love the technique of letting the dough rest overnight – it makes fresh-baked bread seem like a not-so-time-consuming process – and I appreciate that Dorie gives instructions on saving half the dough for baking later.
If you would like to make Provençal Olive Fougasse, buy Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful book Around My French Table. To see how other FFWD participants fared, check it out here: LYL: provencal olive fougasse.
From Scratch 
I like the idea of a table top picnic for this – lovely job.
Wow! That turned out beautifully, Karen. I hope mine looks half that good. Plus your whole picnic meal is very appealing. Good job!
Karen, Your bread is gorgeous! Such a great way to serve it…picnic style! Love the red peppers…Yum! Happy Mother’s Day!
Your picnic looks awesome! So glad to hear you enjoyed the bread!
What a beautiful spread, Karen. Your fougasse looks terrific. This was so much fun to make, wasn’t it? I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.
Such a beautiful presentation. Your fougasse looks so delicious with
the roasted pepper and salami. Great photo. Happy Mother’s Day.
Tabletop picnics are some of my favorite meals! This is a perfect addition to one. Have a Happy Mother’s Day, Karen!
What a gorgeous “picnic” table. The roasted red peppers looked as delicious as your fougasse. I am interested in your bread challenge and will enjoy reading about it when I finish with your comment. Most of us really enjoyed making this flatbread.
You chose great accompaniments for this bread – love your tabletop picnic! I feel like we’ve been getting a lot of bread-making practice this year, between French Fridays and Baking With Julia. It’s been lovely.
Your post reminds me that I really want to make some nice infused olive oil just for dipping bread in! 🙂 Great job!
Very pretty! My husband liked the salt on top as well and we dipped in olive oil also. Bread baking is really fun.
We made a picnic of this too. So happy you enjoyed making this. Looking at your photos has my mouth watering and ready to make it again!
That bread looks so good! And I love the idea of a table top picnic. So cute. We do that for lunch every once in a while but what a great idea to do it for dinner to showcase freshly baked bread!!