Grissini

While I was at work yesterday, hubby was busy in the kitchen working on a new bread product - Grissini.

Now this is his first go at Grissini and he's not terribly happy with the results, but I am!  I ate four (at least) of them last night, as did our son.  I can understand his dissatisfaction with them, as being a bit of a perfectionist ~koff - putting it mildly - koff~ the fact that they wound up slightly hard rather than crisp, wasn't how he imagined they would result.  However, I could very easily see them working beautifully well with a pot of Green Pea Dip, or Hummous - one of those rather more substantial dips that wafer-like dipping equipment quail at.

I'm sure he'll have another go, as he definitely won't be beaten by a Grissini.  However, until then, here's the recipe if anyone wants to have a try :

GRISSINI (Breadsticks) Makes 20 x 6" grissini

Ingredients :

200g white bread flour
50g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2  tsp pepper
7g of fresh yeast or 1/2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
140ml lukewarm water
4 tbsp semolina or polenta
1 tsp olive oil

Method

Dissolve the sugar into the water and then mix in the yeast.
Add the remaining flour to form a soft dough then dust a work surface with flour.
Turn the dough on to the floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, working in more flour if needed, to keep the dough from sticking.  Cover with a damp tea towel and rest for 10 minutes.
Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper and sprinkle with 1 tbsp semolina or polenta.
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, then fold in four and repeat four or five times.
Finally, roll into a large rectangular sheet 3mm thick.  Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and sprinkle with semolina or polenta.
Cut the dough sheet across into 20 equal strips. Holding each strip by the ends, twist and stretch until it the desired shape is reached. Place the twists on the baking sheet. Leave to rise, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Lightly coat the strips of dough with cooking spray or a little olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the breadsticks from the oven and lightly coat again with cooking spray or brush with a teaspoon of olive oil. Bake for a further 8 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.Mix 100g of the flour with the parmesan, rosemary and pepper in a large bowl.