italian
breadsticks
Makes 24 to 36 breadsticks, depending on thickness
Anyone who knows me knows I love breadsticks and that I've written
about them in several of my books. I first learned about how the
real breadsticks of Piemonte are made from Vogue food critic Jeffrey
Steingarten, who described the process he had seen in a bakery while on a
visit to Asti in Piemonte about 20 years ago. Those traditional breadsticks
were made with some dough saved from the day before, mixed into that
day's breadstick dough, providing better flavor and ease of handling. I've
developed this recipe, which uses a quickly risen sponge to mimic the effect
of old dough in the mix.
SPONGE
½ cup/112 grams room-temperature tap water,
about 75°F
2 teaspoons/6 grams fine granulated active dry
or instant yeast
1 cup/135 grams unbleached bread flour (spoon
into a dry-measure cup and level off)
DOUGH
½ cup/112 grams room-temperature tap water,
about 75°F
All of the sponge, above
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups/270 grams unbleached bread flour
1½ teaspoons/9 grams fine sea salt
Cornmeal for the pans
Three cookie sheets or jelly-roll pans dusted
with cornmeal
1. For the sponge, whisk the water and
yeast together in the bowl of an electric
mixer. Use a rubber spatula to stir in the
flour smoothly. Cover the bowl with plastic
wrap and let the sponge ferment until it
more than doubles in bulk, about 1 hour.
2. For the dough, stir the water into the
sponge, then stir in the oil. Use a rubber
spatula to stir in the flour.
3. Place the bowl on the mixer fitted with
the dough hook and mix on low speed until
the dough comes together evenly, about 2
minutes. Stop the mixer and let the dough
rest for 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle in the salt and mix the dough on
medium speed until it is smooth and elastic,
about 2 minutes. Scrape the dough into an
oiled bowl, turn it over so that the top is
oiled, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the
dough ferment until it doubles in bulk, 30 to
45 minutes.
5. Once the dough has fermented, set racks
in the upper and lower thirds of the oven
and preheat to 350°F.
6. Scrape the risen dough onto a floured
work surface and form it into a thick square.
Use a bench scraper to cut the dough in
half; cut each half into 12 to 18 pieces,
depending on whether you want thin or
thicker breadsticks.
7. Brush away any flour on the work surface
and roll each piece of dough under the palms
of your hands to the length of your baking
pans. Place the breadsticks on the prepared
pans as they are formed, placing 12 on each
pan for thinner ones and 8 on each for thicker.
8. Bake the breadsticks without proofing
them until they are crisp and golden, 20 to
25 minutes. If you only have room in your
oven for 2 pans at a time, cover and refrigerate
the third pan so it doesn't proof while
the other breadsticks are baking.
9. Cool the breadsticks on the pan. Use a
dry brush to remove the cornmeal if any is
stuck to the bottoms of the breadsticks.
Serve the breadsticks the day they are
baked on a shallow platter or standing up in
a short cylindrical glass vase. Store leftover
breadsticks on a clean jelly-roll pan slipped
into a large plastic bag that's twisted closed.
If they soften, reheat at 350°F for 5 minutes,
then cool.
QUICK CHANGES
SESAME BREADSTICKS: These are shorter and thicker than traditional breadsticks to
make adhering the sesame seeds easier.
• Divide the dough into 24 pieces and roll each piece 8 inches long. Cut in half to make
4-inch lengths. Line them up on the left side of your work surface as they are formed.
• Place a shallow bowl filled with 1 cup water to the right of the breadsticks, and a
small roasting pan holding 2 cups white sesame seeds to the right of the bowl. Place
2 jelly-roll pans lined with parchment paper to the right of the seeds.
• Use your left hand to drop 6 of the breadsticks into the bowl and gently shake it so
that the outside of all the breadsticks is wet. Use the same hand to lift them out of the
water without stretching them and place them on the sesame seeds. Use your right
hand to sprinkle the tops of the breadsticks generously with the seeds and lift them
to the prepared pan, arranging them about 2 inches apart all around.
• After all the breadsticks have been coated, let them proof for 15 minutes, then bake
them as above until golden and dry, 20 to 25 minutes.