Banish the breadsticks grissini

We all make decisions on what we will and won’t buy in. Me? I rarely buy pudding but there’s always a jar of pesto in the fridge and one of those giant tubs of green Thai curry paste bought from the supermarket. They’re my shortcuts. As for breadsticks, well I do buy them, but I endeavour to make them, as the bought ones are just so dry and easy to shatter. These grissini are enough to make me banish the breadsticks forever.

INGREDIENTS

500g strong white flour

7g fast action dried yeast

10g salt

35ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing

270ml water, warm

METHOD

Line 2 baking trays with non-stick greaseproof paper. Mix all the ingredients together with a spoon then knead until smooth and elastic. I give each child some dough to work on, as smaller amounts seem less daunting. Leave to prove in a bowl covered in cling film until doubled in size (the time this takes is dependent on the warmth of the room – the hotter it is the faster the dough will rise) then ask the children to punch it down with well-oiled hands. Snip off 30 g pieces and roll out on a well-oiled surface into long sausage shapes about 1 cm wide and 30 cm long. They need to be quite thin because they need to prove again and will grow another centimetre or so.

Place the sticks of dough on the lined baking trays and cover with some very loose cling film or an upturned deep roasting tin, allowing room for the dough to prove and rise. Preheat the oven to 220°C. When double the size (again the time will depend on the warmth of the room) bake for 8–10 minutes until browned and baked through. Cool on a wire rack. These keep for a week in a tin.

#normalmum #grissini #bread