Potato Rosemary Harvest Bread

Instructions

Mix the yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup flour in a large bowl. Add ½ cup warm (110F) water and stir together. Let sit for 15 minutes until the mixture bubbles up. Add the remaining flour and salt as well as the olive oil and remaining ¾ cup water. Stir well. Add additional water as needed.

Turn out on a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough springs back when pressed with your fingertip, 10 minutes. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl. Turn it over to coat the dough on top with oil, cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. (Alternately, let rise the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator.)

Remove the dough from the bowl and gently press the dough to release any air.

Spread the dough out with your hands onto a large, well-oiled baking sheet 8” X 12”. Brush the top well with olive oil and press all over with your fingertips to make deep indentations. Layer the potatoes and rosemary needles over the top and drizzle with additional olive oil. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 hour.

In the meantime, preheat an oven to 450F.

Sprinkle the dough with Maldon salt and bake until golden, the potatoes are tender and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and drizzle with additional olive oil and additional salt if needed.