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Sourdough Grissini

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Recipe: Sourdough Grissini

Sourdough Grissini are a crisp, rustic take on the classic Italian breadstick. Made with sourdough, they bake up delightfully thin and snappy, with a subtle tang that adds depth to every bite. Perfect for nibbling on their own, they are also wonderful served alongside soups, salads, or your favorite dips. For this recipe I used sourdough discard which I fed before adding to the dough. Roll them pencil thin or thick as your finger, the choice is yours. Alternately use a pizza cutter to make thin strips. Add spices and herbs of your choice. I decided to go with the flavour that I grew up with – cumin seeds.

Memories

If we were not going for the weekly shopping of vegetables, grains, spices, etc with mum then it was a walk to the Westlands Shopping Centre. Our favourite place was the bakery Oven Door. Always had the aroma of freshly baked bread whenever we passed it. Besides the freshly baked loaves we would pick a bundle of breadsticks. In no time the sticks would disappear. They made two flavours, one with cumin seeds and the other with fennel seeds. I loved both.

Snacks And Memories

My mum would make snacks often for our huge family and I remember helping her. Back then snacks were never bought ready made as we  do nowadays. Peel potatoes for the chevdo, help her bake cookies, roll and cut small slits on farsi puri, help her to smear mixture of flour and ghee for the flaky farsi puri. When my kids were growing up, they loved chevdo, sev, chakri…yes must have made tonnes and tonnes of those along with farsi puri.

Sharing Sourdough Grissini Recipe With FoodieMonday/ Bloghop Group

We are on our 244th theme which is Snackmania. Renu who blogs at Cook With Renu suggested that we make snacks which can be stored at least for two weeks if not less. With so many countries still under lockdown or curfew during to Covid,  cooking at home has become the main active in most homes. With just hubby and me at home, I usually don’t bother making snacks at home. However, supply of Indian snacks has taken a hit in Mombasa. So have make them at home. And having hubby at home means more food is required!

For this theme I decided to use up some of my sourdough discard. I hate to throw it away. Came across Sourdough Grissini recipe on Doves Farm What I liked about this recipe was that it used the sourdough discard. It explains how to feed the discard and use it for the breadstick dough. I added my own flavour. I didn’t use any of the Doves Farm Products as I don’t get them in Kenya. Instead, I used the local wheat and all purpose flour which are pretty good.

 

What Are Snacks?

Snacks are small meals that one has in between main meals. These snacks can be ones that need to be consumed immediately like fritter, sandwiches, cut fruits, etc. Then there are those that last longer like cookies, crackers, crisps (chips), tortilla chips, etc. In that respect the Indian Sub Continent offers a huge selection of snacks or munchies as they are sometimes referred to. Right from Chedvo (Chevda), Ganthia, Sev, Mathia, Fafda, Mathri, Farsi Puri, Chakri, Sakapara, etc. The list is endless.

Check Out Some Storable  Snack Recipes  

What Is Sourdough Starter?

We all know that one requires yeast to bake a bread. Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water which is allowed to ferment at room temperature so that it ‘catches’ the wild yeast that exists in our surroundings. This helps the mixture to ferment. Some of the fermented mixture is discarded and the remaining fed again with more flour and water. This process which takes about 5-7 days helps the mixture to develop the characteristic sour taste that we find in sourdough breads and other sourdough products. Best place to learn how to make a sourdough starter is to visit King Arthur Flour Website.

What is Grissini?

Grissini is the Italian name for breadstick. Also known as grissino or dipping sticks, they generally are pencil thin. This should not be mistaken with the breadsticks that one gets at Dominoes,Pizza Hut or Olive Garden. Grissini are thin, crisp, dry baked bread which originated in Italy. These sticks are perfect for snacking on or to serve with a dip or even with a soup. The flavors of  grissini are plentiful. Aniseed, cumin seed, herbs, caraway, cheese, sesame seeds, turmeric, sea salt, paprika, garlic, etc are some that I can think of.

Ingredients Required For Sourdough Grissini

Fed or Active Sourdough Starter – the discard is fed and allowed to ferment overnight.

Flour – I used a mixture of both plain and wheat flour.

Salt – any salt of your choice

Flavoring of your choice – I chose  cumin seeds.

Warm Water

Oil or butter

 

 

 

 

 

 

USING A PIZZA CUTTER

HAND ROLLED BREADSTICKS

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SOURDOUGH GRISSINI

Sourdough Grissini are a crisp, rustic take on the classic Italian breadstick. Made with sourdough, they bake up delightfully thin and snappy
Course Snack, Starter
Cuisine Italian
Keyword breadstick recipe, grissini recipe, Italian breadstick, sourdough grissini
Prep Time 1 day
baking time 12 minutes
Total Time 1 day 12 minutes
Author mayurisjikoni

Ingredients

FOR THE SOURDOUGH STARTER

  • 25 g sourdough starter room temperature
  • 50 g wheat flour
  • 75 ml warm water

FOR THE GRISSINI | BREADSTICKS

  • 150 g fermented sourdough starter that is the whole of the above fed starter
  • 150 g wheat flour
  • 50 g plain flour
  • 75 ml warm water
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 - 3 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

FEED THE SOURDOUGH DISCARD

  • Mix the sourdough starter, water and flour in a glass jar or container.
  • Mix it well, I prefer to use a fork.
  • Cover and let it ferment in a warm place overnight.
  • After 6-8 hours the starter should be creamy and with bubbles.
  • To test if it is ready, drop a bit of the sourdough in a cup of water. It should float.

PREPARE THE DOUGH FOR GRISSINI

  • Mix the flours, salt and cumin seeds in a bowl.
  • Add oil and rub it into the flour.
  • Add both the water and fed sourdough starter.
  • Bring the dough together.
  • Dust the worktop with some flour.
  • Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes till you have a smooth dough.
  • Grease a bowl with oil. Rub oil over the dough too.
  • Place the dough in the bowl.
  • Cover the bowl with a lid or cling film.
  • Leave the bowl with the dough in a warm place to ferment for 3 hours.
  • Deflate the risen dough gently.
  • Dust the work top with some flour.
  • Bring the dough together into a ball.
  • Grease baking trays with some oil.

TWO WAYS TO PREPARE THE STICKS

    USING A PIZZA CUTTER

    • Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle about 10" X12"
    • Using a pizza cutter, cut the rectangle into thin strips.
    • Carefully place the strips on the baking tray, leaving a little gap between each.

    HAND ROLLED

    • Roll the risen dough into a long rope.
    • Using a sharp knife cut into small slices, about the size of a walnut.
    • Using very little flour, roll each piece into a long rope that fits in your baking tray.
    • Though time consuming I found that this method is better.

    SECOND FERMENTATION

    • Place the trays in the oven (not switched on) and let the cut strips ferment for one hour.

    BAKING

    • Remove the trays from the oven.
    • Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
    • Bake the breadsticks for 10-12 minutes till they begin to turn light golden brown. Be careful not to burn them.
    • Remove the breadsticks or grissini from the tray and let them cool on a wire rack.
    • Store in an airtight container.

    Notes

    Roll the dough out into thin sticks.
    Make sure they don't get burnt.
    If the rolled breadsticks are a bit thick, baking time will increase.
    Make sure you store grissini in airtight containers.
    Dough fermentation time will depend on how warm or cold your kitchen is.

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    If you do try this recipe then please either

     

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