Walnut Breadsticks
- About 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ recipe Pizza Dough (page 123), cut into 4 pieces and allowed to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
- Flour for rolling out the dough
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs (such as basil, parsley, thyme, tarragon, etc.)
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
These breadsticks incorporate chopped walnuts and fresh herbs, but you can play with a wide array of other ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Rub a large sheet pan with a light coating of olive oil, 2 to 3 teaspoons.
- Roll out each piece of pizza dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough rectangle 4 to 5 inches wide and about 8 inches long. Rub each rectangle of dough with a teaspoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle each one with ¼ cup of the walnuts, 1½ teaspoons of the herbs, 1 tablespoon of the cheese, and salt and pepper. Roll over the ingredients with the rolling pin to press them into the dough.
- Slice the dough lengthwise into ¾-inch-wide strips. Grasp a strip of dough by both ends and give it 4 or 5 twists while stretching it, until it’s about 10 to 12 inches long. Set the twisted strip down on the sheet pan. (If the dough seems to be stretching only in the middle, lay the strip down and do a couple of ministretches in the thicker spots to even things out before you twist the dough.) Repeat the process with the remaining dough. You should get about 2 dozen breadsticks.
- Bake until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Allow the breadsticks to cool completely before serving. They’ll keep overnight in a tightly sealed container. Don’t refrigerate or they’ll become soggy.