Basic Olive Oil Breadsticks

Place the water in a small bowl and whisk in yeast. Allow yeast to soften
while preparing remaining ingredients.

Place flour and salt in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal
blade. Pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. Add oil and pulse ten times to mix
thoroughly. Add yeast mixture, being careful to scrape all yeast from bowl
with a rubber spatula. Pulse again until the dough forms a ball, about ten
more times. Let the dough rest in the work bowl for 5 minutes, then run the
machine continuously for 10 seconds, for a final mixing of the dough.

Remove dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly to form a
smooth ball. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn dough to coat all
surfaces. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room
temperature until double in bulk, about an hour.

After dough has risen, remove from bowl to lightly floured work surface and
knead lightly to deflate. Form dough into a ball and place in oiled bowl,
turning dough to coat all surfaces. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and
refrigerate dough for 2 hours (or up to 24 hours) before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and set racks in upper and lower thirds. Cover
three jelly roll pans with cornmeal, using a tablespoon or so for each pan.

Scrape refrigerated dough from bowl to a lightly floured work surface,
making sure dough emerges from bowl in one piece and doesn’t fold. Press
dough into a 9-inch square. Cut dough into 2 rectangles, each 4 1/2 by
9-inches. Then cut each rectangle into 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch lengths, to make
36 pieces in all. Cover the cut pieces of dough with plastic wrap or a
towel to keep them from forming a skin. One at a time, roll pieces of dough
under palms of hands, stretching at the same time, to make narrow sticks
about 15-inches long. If dough resists, set pieces aside under plastic wrap
or towel to rest for 5 minutes, and they will roll and stretch easily.

As breadsticks are formed, arrange them in length of pan, about 10 or 12 to
a pan, keeping them about 1/2-inch apart. Let the breadsticks rest about 10
minutes, then bake the first two pans for about 20 to 30 minutes, until
they are firm, crisp and light golden. The third pan may wait while the
first ones are baking. Cool the breadsticks on the pans or on racks. Store
breadsticks in a paper bag or loosely covered with plastic wrap at room
temperature. If they absorb humidity and soften, bake them again for 5
minutes at 325 degrees.

Yield: 36 breadsticks

NOTES : Recipe courtesy of Nick Malgieri