We grew up eating loads of hot and comforting soups when the months started getting colder. It was easier for my mother and sometimes father as well to feed three hungry kids and to give them nutrition of seasonal winter veggies. Because both of them used to be working too. It used to be a thin down version, almost like a hot broth but made with only vegetables. I remember all of us sitting in our tiny kitchen with door closed in {we never had the heating at home, the warmth of food was just good enough} and enjoying the sumptuous food which my parents cooked for us. I remember this is how food connected us. And I remember that strangely, we never had any accompaniments like croutons, breads or even soup sticks to dunk in our soups. The soups meant to be increasing appetite and mother would think that eating some bread would make her kids full and kids would make excuse to skip the dinner anyway. So very cleverly, they never got introduced to us. So much so we sometimes would sip them straight through coffee mugs too, right before having the dinner. But then I eventually got to know how awesome it was to dunk those soup sticks and bread in that hot bowl of soup. In fact it just makes it a complete meal in itself.
The reason bread {read the white sandwich bread here} was always discouraged in our family because of all refined flour. And the mother always thought it was bad for kids. But then I loved having some kind of bread with my bowl of soup as well. And this is what I was remembering a couple of days back, when it hit me to bake some bread sticks or Grissini {as Italians would call them} at home. It was a super awesome thing to do because the soup weather has just arrived. And what better it could be to make them whole wheat flour substituting for half of the refined flour. These came out as airy and as light as these could be, that I munched on them and finished them all, dipping into my lovely creamy garlic feta dip. I am definitely going to make them again.
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp active-dry yeast
- 3 tbsp olive oil, extra to grease the bowl
- 1 tsp honey
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- sesame seeds/chopped thyme/nigella seeds/sea salt as flavourings
- In the bowl of food processor, combine 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, water, honey and yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture should be foamy.
- Add the remaining ingredients except flavourings. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until combined, and then on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and shiny.
- Remove the dough from food processor and transfer it to a small bowl. Coat with very little olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in bulk.
- When the dough is ready, preheat oven to 220°C and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Shape the dough into a rough, flat rectangle. Slice a finger-sized piece from the long length of the rectangle with a sharp knife or a bench scrapper. Roll it into a long, irregularly shaped snake and place on the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining dough, placing the rolled dough about 1/2" apart.
- To add flavourings, spread the seeds/chopped herbs on an empty baking sheet and roll the dough snakes over the seeds and press gently to make the seeds stick. Place snakes on the baking sheet. Pick up one end and twist several times to create a swirl.
- Let the grissini rest for a few minutes before baking, so they puff up a bit, about 15 minutes.
- Place the baking sheets with grissini into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Take them out when they are golden brown.
- Move the grissini to a cooling rack to cool. Store them in an airtight container when completely cooled.
[…] for myself either. I might have turned on my oven probably a month ago, when I baked these lovely grissini. This was quite a lot to trigger on the baker instincts and fire up the oven. This being the […]