Hand-Rolled Grissini with Rosemary, Sea Salt & Semolina

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Pencil-thin Italian breadsticks that snap when you break them. A soft, well-oiled dough gets patted into a slab, cut into ribbons, and stretched by hand so every stick bakes up craggy and irregular — the kind that arrives standing in a jar on a trattoria table. Semolina gives them a sandy crunch, olive oil keeps them shattering rather than hard, and a low finish in the cooling oven drives out the last of the moisture so they stay crisp for a week.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups bread flour (200g), plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup fine semolina flour (85g)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp honey
• 2/3 cup warm water (150g), about 100°F
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for coating the dough slab
• 2 tbsp fine semolina flour, for the work surface
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, very finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt, lightly crushed
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional, for half the batch)
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (optional, for half the batch)

Instructions

1. Whisk 1 1/2 cups bread flour, 1/2 cup semolina, the instant yeast, and fine sea salt together in a large bowl. Stir the honey into the 2/3 cup warm water until dissolved, then pour it into the flour along with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix with a sturdy spoon until no dry flour remains — the dough will be shaggy and slightly sticky.
2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth, elastic, and tacky but not gluey (add flour only 1 teaspoon at a time if it sticks badly). It should stretch into a thin, translucent window without tearing. Shape into a ball.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon of the finishing olive oil onto a rimmed baking sheet or large plate and set the dough on it. Turn the dough to coat, then pat and press it into a rough 6 x 10-inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the top with another tablespoon of oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy and about half again as thick. (Or refrigerate up to 24 hours, then rest at room temperature 45 minutes before shaping.)
4. Arrange two racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 400°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
5. Scatter the 2 tablespoons semolina over your counter and slide the oiled dough slab onto it, long side facing you. Brush the top with the last tablespoon of oil, then sprinkle the whole surface with the chopped rosemary and 1 teaspoon of the flaky salt. If you want two flavors, press sesame seeds into the left half and Parmesan into the right half, patting gently so they adhere.
6. Using a bench scraper or a large knife, cut the slab crosswise into strips about 1/2 inch wide — you'll get roughly 20 strips. Don't saw; press straight down and lift.
7. Pick up one strip by both ends, let it hang, and stretch it gently until it's as long as your baking sheet, about 13 inches, twisting once or twice if you like. Lay it on the parchment. Repeat, spacing the sticks about 3/4 inch apart; they barely spread. Fill both sheets (they will hold about 10 sticks each) and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon flaky salt.
8. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, swapping and rotating the pans front-to-back at the 9-minute mark, until the grissini are deep golden with darker blistered edges and feel rigid when you lift the middle of one with tongs. Thinner sticks may be done a couple of minutes early — pull any that brown fast onto a rack.
9. Turn the oven off, crack the door open a few inches, and leave the grissini inside for 10 minutes to dry out completely. Transfer to a rack and cool fully; they crisp as they cool. Repeat shaping and baking with any remaining dough strips.
10. Serve standing up in a tall glass or jar, alongside prosciutto, olives, or a dip. Store fully cooled grissini in an airtight container or tin at room temperature for up to 1 week; re-crisp 4 minutes in a 350°F oven if they soften.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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