Basil & Olive Aussie Damper Bread

I'm definitely no known for my patience and this is probably one of the main reasons I don't bake bread very often. I know this is the beauty of the beast but it's something I will avoid if at all possible. So last week I was watching Lorraine Pascale's 'Fast, Fresh and Easy' cooking show and she made an Aussie Damper bread which had no rising time at all!

I made a few adjustements to my bread just so that it suited my taste more as I don't have rosemary in my garden but I do have a rather out of hand basil plant at the moment.

As Damper bread is a traditional Australian soda bread prepared by travelers and cooked in campfire ashes. It consists of very few and simple ingredients flour, water, salt and raising agent. It's quite a dense bread perfect for dipping in hummus or simply good olive oil.

You will need;
440g self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Bunch of basil chopped (could also use any other fresh herb e.g. rosemary, parsley or corriander)
225 ml warm water
45g chopped olives (could also use sun dried tomatoes, caramelised onions or roasted garlic)

Grab a large bowl and pour the flour in, make a well in the centre and pour in the water, oil, salt and chopped basil, mix with hands until combined then pour dough out onto lightly floured surface and flatten into a disc and pop your chopped olives in the centre then fold the dough up around the olives and knead until olives are evenly distributed (don't knead for too long) then place on a baking tray and push a star into the top with the handle of a wooden spoon and bake in an oven pre-heated at 200C for 30 mins, when the bread is done but still warm brush some olive oil onto the top.