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

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