Kalamata Olive and Rosemary Focaccia
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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~
This savory Italian bread is a rustic focaccia recipe with a rich olive and rosemary flavor. It is a versatile addition to your repertoire of recipes.
You can serve it alongside soups, salads, or frittatas or as an accompaniment to a vegan cheese platter. Or, you can top it with slices of tomato and sliced avocado for an easy open-faced sandwich.
I first made this bread back in 2011. Each time I make it, I make some slight changes and now felt it was time to update this recipe. The ingredients stayed the same except I added rosemary, which complemented the other flavors. But what I did discover was how to increase the aesthetics of this bread.
Initially, when I first designed this recipe, I mixed everything in the food processor, which created a rose hue to the bread, which was borderline unattractive. So, now, when I make it, I combine everything by hand in a bowl, making sure to add the olives last to prevent the bread from turning rose/pink color.
I also changed the shape from a loaf to focaccia (foh-KAH-chee-uh) because the ingredients fit well with that style of bread. Focaccia is an Italian flatbread that resembles a pizza crust without the topping.
I use to bake a gluten-free version of this bread. I use to take the pan straight from the oven, right to the table… placing it in the center where everyone would reach in and tear off a chunk to enjoy with their meal. I wanted to recreate that with a raw version.
This recipe has a pleasant lingering taste of garlic, so if you are sensitive to garlic, you might want to decrease the measurement to maybe two teaspoons. If you use raw garlic, be careful because the raw version of garlic is VERY pungent.
It would be well served as a vessel for a raw nut cheese for sure, but I have to admit that it carries its own weight beautifully and tastes amazing all by itself.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups packed, moist almond pulp
- 1 cup rolled, gluten-free, oats, soaked & dehydrated
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 3 Tbsp raw coconut flour
- 2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp fresh minced rosemary
- 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 cup Irish moss gel (more options below)
- 1/4 cup date paste
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup kalamata or Botija black olives, diced
Preparation:
- Place the oats in the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, processing until it reaches a fine flour consistency.
- Add the ground flax seeds, coconut flour, garlic powder, and salt. Pulse till mixed and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add almond pulp, Irish moss, date paste, and lemon juice. Mix with your hands until everything is well incorporated.
- In place of Irish moss, you can use 1/2 cup of Kelp paste or 1/4 psyllium husks + 1 1/2 cups of water.
- Add olives and gently fold in.
- Depending on how moist your almond pulp is, you may need to add water, so the dough sticks together nicely. If you do, do this by adding 1 Tbsp at a time.
- Remove the batter and shape it into the desired size. I created a flatbread (focaccia)
- Optional: sprinkle ground and whole flax seeds on top along with some minced fresh rosemary.
- Place bread on the mesh sheet that comes with your dehydrator and dehydrates at 145 degrees for 1 hour. This will create a crust on the outside.
- If creating a loaf, remove it from the dehydrator and slice your bread pieces to the desired thickness.
- I did mine at about 1″. Return to mesh sheet laying the pieces flat.
- Decrease the temperature to 115 degrees (F) and continue to dehydrate for 4-10 hours.
- As an indicator, if it is dry enough, touch the center of the bread slices.
- You don’t want it to be doughy, but you also don’t want the bread to dry out too much.
- Shelf life and storage: My recommendation would be to store this bread in an air-tight container, in the fridge, for 3-5 days.
- The more moisture that is left in your bread, the shorter the shelf life. Therefore, shelf life will vary with your drying technique. Whenever I make this bread, it never lasts very long enough to spoil. Keep in mind, the whole purpose of eating a raw diet is to eat foods at their peak of freshness, so don’t expect this bread to have an extended expiration date.
- Freeze for 1-3 months.
The Institute of Culinary Ingredients™
- What is Himalayan pink salt, and does it matter? Click (here) to read more about it.
- Are oats gluten-free? Yes, read more about that (here).
- Are oats raw? Yes, they can be found. Click (here) to learn more.
- Do I need to soak and dehydrate oats? Not required but recommended. Click (here) to see why.
- Learn how to grind your own flaxseeds for ultimate freshness and nutrition. Click (here).
Culinary Explanations:
- Why do I start the dehydrator at 145 degrees (F)? Click (here) to learn the reason behind this.
- When working with fresh ingredients, it is essential to taste test as you build a recipe. Learn why (here).
- Don’t own a dehydrator? Learn how to use your oven (here). I do, however honestly believe that it is a worthwhile investment. Click (here) to learn what I use.
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Ready for the dehydrator.
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As you can see it darkened a little during the drying process.
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I am trying to show you the bread-like texture that it has when you tear a piece off.
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Look at that amazing bread-like texture!
© AmieSue.com
Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegan
Amie Sue- this is absolutely delicious and was my favorite of them all! I loved the olive taste in this! YUM!!!!
This was Bob’s favorite as well. In fact he just polished off the rest of it yesterday. I am so glad that you enjoyed! Thanks for posting. :) Have one heck of a fantastic day. amie sue
Do you have any suggestions for an irish moss substitute? If I left it out would the bread just be denser?
Catherine,
You can just omit it, it offers a “fluffier” texture. And nutrients. It will taste just as good in the end without it. amie sue
Hi amie-sue,
LOVE your site – it’s beautiful :). I don’t work due to health reasons…so having access to such beautiful recipes is a real blessing for me. Thankyou for sharing everything you do!
One thing I can’t eat is oats, even gluten-free one’s. so, I will have to subst. that in your recipes. for this recipe, instead of the 1 cup oat flour could this work with another nut flour e.g. coconut, almond?
kindly,
Sara
Good evening Sara..well more like morning. I am up so past my bedtime. hehe But I saw your email so I thought I would make it my last before closing things down for the night.
I am so happy that you are enjoying my site. I hope that you continue to do so. I am sorry though, to hear that you are working through health issues. I know how that goes. I hope you heal quickly and live in complete health soon.
For this recipe, it should be just fine to use a nut flour or even buckwheat flour in place of the oats. I don’t recommend using that much coconut flour though, it is very drying and likes to suck up to much moisture.
Ok, bedtime for me. Many blessings Sara and do keep in touch. amie sue :)
I wonder if there’s any ingredient that would create the fluffiness of Irish moss? I have severe reactions to carageenan (derived from Irish moss) and studies are coming out about how inflammatory it is. Irish moss comes up frequently in raw recipes and I usually don’t bother with making those recipes. But this bread looks incredible, and though it can be omitted, I’d still be interested in finding a fluffy counterpart to Irish moss!
Thank you Amie Sue, for sharing your beautiful recipes. I have found so many things here I’m excited to recreate. Blessings to you!
Hello Angela,
You can replacing it with the kelp paste. The Irish moss does add a unique texture indeed. But you have to use ingredients that you are comfortable with. https://nouveauraw.com/raw-techniques/substitute-for-irish-moss-kelp-noodle-paste/ I haven’t tried it myself yet.
I am thankful to hear that you are enjoying my site. Keep in touch… amie sue :)
Amie, I live in LA, where do you suggest I find raw oats? Does it say Raw on the package? Thanks for your help.
Good evening Elen,
I am not to sure what is all available to you in LA… I have been there a few times but for short stents. In all my travels, I have to say that I always have to order my raw oats on-line. There has been a few rare occasions were I stumble upon a health food store that carries really good raw foods. Oats in just about every typical grocery store won’t be raw .
I have a section on my site where I share information on Raw Ingredients. You will see it in the menu on the left side of the site. Here is a link to Raw Oats and a few place I recommend. https://nouveauraw.com/special-raw-ingredients/truly-raw-oats-vs-standard-oats/.
I hope this helps! amie sue
Hey Amie! Can you turn these delicious looking garlic bread to burger buns or “no tuna sandwich buns? I would have to opt out on garlic and substitute it with onion powder since I don’t eat garlic though. Would this work?
You betcha! That is the beauty with raw recipes… a bread recipe can be shaped like a loaf for sandwiches, shaped into buns, rolled into sticks for bread sticks, spread flat and scored into small cubes and make croutons… etc! Look through all my bread recipes and you notice some of these shapes. :) Have fun! amie sue (keep me posted :)
I am excited to try! Yes! I am going to make tuna sandwich buns with this maybe in about two weeks or so, since I just finished the fast, then I’ll let you know how it goes! Hope it’s as amazing as you said it is for you and hubby. I know it will! I know it will! haha. Just speaking it into existence. Don’t mind me.
Thank you so much queen.
Good idea to wait till you slowly come off the fast… smart way to reenter back into feeding. :) The recipes will always be here for when you are ready! Blessings and look forward to hearing from you again. amie sue
Also I’m 85% raw and %15 cooked food guy. I don’t have access to a dehydrator at the moment though. What would be the cooktime or prep for oven baking? Thank you for your guidance queen!
Hello Justin, nice to hear from you. :) Hmm, well you ask a very good question and one that I don’t know the exact answer too. I typically never bake my raw creations. So with that being said, you will just have to experiment. Be sure to document your times and temps for future recipes though.
If you want to TRY to keep it as much raw as possible… turn the temp on the lowest setting, crack the door and have a small fan blow across the opening. This will lower the temp, almost making it like a dehydrator. Invest in a temp gauge so you can check the heat in there.
If you just want to bake it but still enjoy the fact that you are eating better ingredients than many breads, then bake at 350 degrees. Time will all depend so you will have to watch it. CLOSELY hehe.
your guidance queen, amie sue :)
Wow! Thank you so much Amie for this detailed response! I respect your honesty and humility as well.
You are truly amazing and a alchemist from another planet. I do I just finished a 40 day water fast with some days taking juice and I want to eat more raw in my life. But because of some foods I need that are high in alkalinity need to be cooked, I won’t fully transition to raw permanently. I do want to try these with the method you suggested though. If Im feeling excitement for the concoction I just created by your guidance, I may just decide to bake the damn thing. :)
Gosh your welcome Justin. :) Glad that it helped.
Wow, a 40 day fast! I can only imagine how “enlightened” you must feel. I have done several fasts… 21 days being the longest and I always loved how I felt while on them.
I honor and respect the fact that you are eating and feeding your body in ways that give you optimal health. So many people get caught up in eating labels, feeling that they must be all or nothing… and that just isn’t the case. We are all far to unique for that way of thinking…. I better stop. lol This is “soapbox” topic for me. hehe
Do keep me posted… your dabbling in the kitchen will inspire others, as well as me. :) Blessings, amie sue
:) Yes it helped very much! And Yes 40 days The journey was a very spiritual experience, an enlightening awakening, and mother nature cleaned me up on her operating table for the first time in my life. It was one of the most important things I’ve done in my life. As you know since you did 21 days. Good for you!
Yes im here for your soapbox rant haha. I say this all the time. Labels are just labels. It is all about optimal health and alkalizing the body to the best of one’s ability.
Thanks again.
peace and love
I can totally imagine. I am so happy for you and your journey. :) Don’t leave behind what you experienced… be sure to take it with you everyday moving forward. :) Blessings! amie sue
Is the irish moss in this recipe the moss itself or the paste/gel you describe making on another page?
Good morning,
It is the Irish moss gel that I link to. I clarified it in the Ingredients list. Thanks for pointing that out. :) Blessings, amie sue