Fougasse is a French version of focaccia and is traditionally made with kalamata or other black olives and deeply scored before baking to look like a grain of wheat. My verson includes caramelized onion slices, fennel seed, and fresh rosemary.
This bread is made with a poolish for better texture and flavor and therefore should be started the day before baking the bread.
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Baking yeasted breads is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. I love it so much that I made fresh bread everyday in culinary school in addition to the other recipes I was responsible for.
It's a magical thing, watching dough rise from combining a few simple ingredients to create something that feeds your stomach and soul. It's like you planted a garden in the morning, harvested everything in the afternoon, and had it for dinner.
Every month this year, I'm joining some blogger friends to make breads focused on different themes. In December it was holiday breads and I made Julekake. Last month I made a banana bread using millet seed for our ancient grains theme.
This month is all about French breads and I made fougasse.
🥖 What is Fougasse Bread?
Fougasse is the French version of the Italian focaccia. They are both flatbreads that use olive oil as an ingredient and they originated from the same ancient Rome ancestor. Over time they evolved into the two different breads we know today. The following are typical characteristics of fougasse.
- Fougasse became very popular in the south of France in the Provence Region, while focaccia evolved in Italy. It typically uses fresh herbs in the dough and is topped with flakes of sea salt like Maldon's.
- This French bread is uniquely rolled or hand-stretched into an oval shape and cut with diagonal cuts to look like an ear of wheat grain.
- When baked, this flat bread has a crispy crust and soft interior. With bread flour, the soft interior is chewy.
- Many fougasse recipes start with a poolish which sits overnight on the counter. This starter dough promotes both texture and flavor. The bread is finished and baked off the next day.
These are not my best photos, but they give you an idea of some of the steps of shaping the dough.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to many dishes often lies in the ingredients. For example, some ingredients make a huge difference to the flavor and/or texture of the finished recipe. And purchasing the right ingredients can save you valuable time in the kitchen.
This list only covers ingredients that require some notes. For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Bread flour - I recommend using King Arthur flours. I like a chewy bread with texture and made this fougasse with bread flour, but if you want a more tender bread you can use all-purpose flour.
- Yellow onions - The mellow flavor of yellow onions is best for this bread.
- Kalamata olives - Traditional fougasse is an olive bread, and while this recipe uses kalamata olives you can make it with a mixture of both kalamata olives and green olives.
- Extra-virgin olive oil - Use a good olive oil in this recipe as its quality will make a difference.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Kitchen scales
- Medium bowl
- Whisk
- Chef's knife
- Small skillet
- Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment
- Blade - either a razor blade, very sharp knife, or scissors
- Sheet pan
- Temperature probe
- Wire rack for cooling
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Use whole wheat flour in place of half of the regular bread flour.
- Substitute Herbs de Provence for the herbs called for in the below fougasse recipe.
- If you have your own sourdough starter, you can use that in place of the poolish.
🏔️ Making This Recipe at High Altitude (7000 ft)
- Use 2 ยฝ teaspoons of active dry yeast in the fougasse dough.
- The dough risings can be shorter, but remember that a longer rise builds additional flavor into the dough.
- You will need to bake the bread an additional 5 minutes to reach ~200˚F.
- As long as the bread reaches 193˚F at high altitudes, the bread is done.
🌱🌱🌱
Welcome to French Breads!
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. This month's theme is French breads, hosted by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm blog.
You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join send Stacy an email with your blog URL to [email protected].
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Brioche
- Food Lust People Love: Cheater Pain aux Raisins
- The Wimpy Vegetarian : Fougasse
- Karen's Kitchen Stories: La Couronne Lyonaise
- Culinary Cam: Pain au Chocolat
- A Messy Kitchen: Pain Brié
- Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Pain de campagne
- Sneha's Recipe : Sourdough French Bread
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
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Black Olive and Herb Fougasse (French Flatbread)
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a dough hook attachment
- Sharp razor blade or knife
Ingredients
Poolish Starter
- 1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
- ยฝ cup warm water (105-110˚F)
- โ teaspoon active dry yeast
Bread Filling
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup very thinly sliced yellow onions roughly 1" long
- ยฝ teaspoon fennel seed
- ยฝ cup quartered kalamata olives quartered lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fougasse Dough
- 2 cups (9 ounces) unbleached bread flour
- ยฝ cup warm water (105-110˚F)
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast or 2 ½ teaspoons if baking at high altitudes
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Poolish Starter
- Weigh the flour with kitchen scales or measure it by fluffing it with a fork and gently spooning it into a cup. Sweep off any excess, and pour it into a medium bowl.Add the water and yeast and vigorously whisk together. Cover with plastic wrap, leaving a part of it loose. If it's too tightly covered with plastic, the yeast can die. Set the bowl on the counter away from any drafts overnight to allow to ferment.
Bread Filling
- Melt the butter in a skillet and add the thinly sliced onion. Sauté, only occasionally stirring, until caramelized, about 20 minutes.Add the fennel seed and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.Transfer the onion and fennel to a small bowl and add the sliced kalamata olives, fresh rosemary, and salt. Stir well until combined and allow to completely cool.
Fougasse Dough
- Weigh or carefully measure the flour and add it to the poolish with the warm water. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it's shaggy, then cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel. Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes in a warm place in your kitchen away from drafts.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the yeast and olive oil and mix on a medium-low speed for a few minutes until the olive oil is mostly absorbed into the dough. Add the caramelized onion and olive mixture and continue to mix the dough until it's supple and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
- Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 ยฝ hours in a warm spot of your kitchen completely free of drafts. Gently deflate the dough using your fingers and turn it over in the bowl after 45 minutes. The dough should be doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a 12" x 6" oval shape. Roll out the bottom of the oval to square it off or pull on the lower sides of the oval to form a triangle-ish shape.Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and transfer the rolled-out dough to it. The dough should be easy to pick up. Loosely cover with plastic and allow it to rise for 30 minutes. (For high-altitude bakers, let it rise for 20 minutes.)
- Using a razor or very sharp knife, cut a slit all the way through the dough lengthwise down the center of the oval, stopping about 1" from each end.Next, make three or four diagonal cuts on each side of the center slit. Spread each slit apart about 1 ½ - 2" wide. The easiest way to do this is by lifting the dough and spreading the slits apart using your fingers. These cuts form the leaf-like shape fougasse is known for and spreading them apart keeps the openings in place through the next rising of the dough.
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F and allow the fougasse to rise an additional 30 - 45 minutes. It should be puffy but the openings formed by the slits you've cut should be obvious.
- Bake the fougasse for 20 minutes or until it turns golden brown. To ensure the bread is fully baked, insert a temperature probe into the bottom of the bread. It should register 200˚F.High altitude bakers will need to bake the bread an additional 5 minutes and the internal temperature should be at least 193˚F.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Wendy Klik
I love the flavor profile of this flatbread. Thanks for the recipe.
Susan Pridmore
You're so welcome. I hope you give it a try!
hobby baker Kelly
Mmmm, I love onions in bread, always! I am enamored with Castelvetrano olives, I'll bet they could sub in for the Kalamata...
Susan Pridmore
I love onions in bread too! Some recipes use a combination of Kalamata and Castelvetrano olive, so you can definitely use the Castelvetranos.
Stacy
Your lovely fougasse would be an excellent addition to a charcuterie board or served with soup to dip it in. Outstanding flavor combo, Susan!
Susan Pridmore
Yesss! This bread would be perfect for dipping into soups and is often used that way in France. Thank you!
Karen's Kitchen Stories
Your fougasse and photos are great! I love what you added to create a wonderful flavor profile.
Swathi
Black olive and herb fougasse looks delicious I am going to make it again.