Snap, crackle, pop! Captain Crunch. Extra crispy Kentucky fried chicken… Seems like food companies are always playing on our addiction to snap-crackle-pop-crunch-crisp in our foods. Think potato chips. Crackers. Oreos. And the whole range of “munchies” (popcorn, pretzels, granola bars, peanuts) that’ve become a serious part of our on-the-go culinary culture. When it comes to most of us, any time is crunch time.

Sure, there are advocates of smooth as well. Who doesn’t love a silky crème brulée? Or the sinuous curve of thick hot fudge oozing over a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Creamy mashed potatoes, anyone? Still, there’s something about the sound a potato chip makes when you bite into it that gets your munchie mojo flowing… bet you can’t eat just one!

Italian-, Chinese-, and Mexican-American food are probably America’s three most popular ethnic cuisines. But when it comes to baking, Italians have added more dishes to our popular culture than the other two combined. Pizza and Italian bread (and its sibling, garlic bread) are as ubiquitous as McDonald’s. Biscotti, mostly due to their exposure in Starbucks, are getting there. If you live in an urban area, you’ve no doubt enjoyed cannoli, focaccia, and panini. And, if you’re a certain age, your very first exposure to Italian food may well have been Stella D’oro breadsticks.

Talk about crisp: you look up crisp in the dictionary, you’re going to see a picture of these light-as-air breadsticks. Perfectly straight, perfectly smooth, they’re the Wonder Bread of breadsticks. Still, there are those of us who loved them… till we learned to make our own.

Grissini, breadsticks native to Turin in the foothills of the Italian Alps, are similar to that long-loved supermarket version—but with a literal twist. Grissini dough is often twisted as it’s shaped, and sprinkled with seeds for color and flavor. They’re a more flavorful, more interesting breadstick; a breadstick for grownup tastes, especially if you add assertive seeds like anise or fennel. And, they’re surprisingly easy to make.

Never mind rolling out log after log of dough; honestly, I’m too lazy for that. Instead, I shape the dough into a rectangle, sprinkle with seeds, cut it in strips, and give each strip a twist before laying it on the baking sheet. A short rise, a short bake, and there you have it: crunchy, crackly, snapping-crisp Grissini. Here’s how:

Put all of your ingredients in a mixer bowl. You can also make this dough in a bread machine set on the dough cycle; that’s what I usually do. I just thought I’d do it in the mixer this time because it’s easier to see what’s going on.

Mix the dough…

Then knead till it’s smooth. As you can see, it’ll be quite sticky.

Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl or measuring cup. If you use a measuring cup, you can easily determine how much the dough has risen.

See? the dough’s just about doubled in size.

Lightly grease a work surface (I’m using a silicone rolling mat here), and pat/roll the dough into a 9” x 13” rectangle. Brush it with egg white beaten with cold water; this’ll make the seeds stick.

Sprinkle the dough with seeds, as many or few as you like. If you don’t like seeds, leave ’em off.

I’m using a pizza wheel to cut 3/8”-wide crosswise strips. Notice the pizza wheel I’m using is safe for non-stick surfaces. At last, a pizza wheel that’s sharp enough to cut, but not sharp enough to harm your pan (or you!) Those metal pizza wheels always made me nervous, with their exposed blade. This one, you can run back and forth across the palm of your hand with impunity—yet it cuts pizza and dough just fine.

Once you’ve cut a strip, grab it, and twist, as though you were wringing a washcloth. Repeat with all the dough strips…

…and space them on a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let them rise for 30 to 60 minutes…

…till the’re nice and puffy. Bake the breadsticks in a 425°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes.

Voilà! Grissini.

Look at these pretty sesame ones; nice, huh?

And here’s a whole bunch of ’em, with different assortments of seeds. I like to serve these with drinks before dinner. Add some olive oil for dipping, if you like.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Test Kitchen. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.