Fougasse is a traditional French bread. It’s a lovely rustic bread, ideal for sharing outdoors with a group of friends or at home with a hearty family meal.

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
10g fine salt
7g sachet instant yeast
30ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing and drizzling
350ml warm water
2 tsp* chopped fresh rosemary, plus extra to finish
2 tsp* chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp* chopped fresh sage
Some fine semolina, for dusting
½ tsp dried oregano
Some salt, to finish

* Or use dried herbs – 1 tsp of each

Method

1. Grease a large bowl with a little olive oil. Line 2 large baking trays with parchment.

(If you also have two even larger baking trays, put them into the oven to heat up when it’s turned on.)

2. Put the flour, salt and yeast into the bowl and mix together (plus the dry herbs if using.). Add the olive oil with three-quarters of the water and mix. Add more water as needed to create a malleable dough. Knead for at least 10 – 12 minutes by hand or 7 – 8 minutes in a stand mixer using the dough hook.

3. If using fresh herbs add them in now and mix again briefly until evenly distributed in the dough. When ready, the dough will be very elastic and you should be able to stretch it away from the bowl.

4. Tip the dough into an oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise until at least doubled in size – about an hour. The dough should be bouncy and shiny.

5. Mix equal quantities of white flour and semolina together and use to heavily dust the work surface and each parchment lined tray. Gently tip the dough onto the work surface. Divide it into halves.

6. Lift each piece onto the prepared baking sheets & spread out into flat ovals. Using a pizza cutter, make two cuts down the middle of the ovals with a gap between them. Stop 2cm/1“ in from each end. Make up to 6 diagonal cuts in the dough on each side of the central cuts, forming a leaf design. Stretch the dough out to emphasise the holes.

7. Place the baking sheets inside large plastic bags and leave to prove in a warm place for 20 – 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to Fan 200°C.

8. Spray or brush a little olive oil over the top of the loaves. (If you have two larger trays that have heated in the oven, slide parchment & loaves onto them.) Sprinkle over the oregano and bake for 18–21 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Remove from the oven and while still hot, brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt or any dried herb of your choice.

I wish you every success with your bread making. I hope you have a go at this one and enjoy making and eating it. If you want to see more of my bread recipes click this link.

Here are some quite different breads that you might want to try:

Garlic Boxty Bread