Garlicky Herb Twists

I love using stumble upon to discover new food blogs and recipes, and a few days ago when I was getting my regular dose of stumbling, I came upon a recipe for herb and garlic twisty bread that instantly made me sit up, take notice and mark it as a high priority baking item. With a name that has herb and garlic in it, who wouldn’t? I have got to admit, I have a thing for a recipe with garlic. Sometimes all I need to get convinced to try a recipe is to know that it had a good amount of garlic or maybe an interesting way to use garlic (remember the garlic infused oil in the baked fries? *swoon*). Don’t even get me started on roasted garlic; I could eat that for dessert.

This is one recipe that is so easy to put together. You can either use store bought pizza dough or make your own. The recipe calls for rosemary and thyme, but you can just as well use your favourite herbs. I usually don’t make the same thing twice (ah, the perils of food blogging), but I just had to make these a second time for two reasons: 1. the taste of the herby filling with garlic and parmesan was distinctively etched in my memory and 2.( ahem) the photos I took the first time weren’t quite up to the mark. I couldn’t not have these on my blog so I made these again!

Some things I learnt while making this the second time:

• A moist dough is always better – it resulted in such soft and pillowy bread as opposed to a very chewy one with a stiffer dough.
• More parmesan is always a good thing.
• You can sub your favourite seasoning mixture for the salt and pepper which makes it more likable.
• Don’t be shy to use more than the prescribed amount of herbs.

I urge you to go ahead and make these. Don’t be surprised if you make a meal out it. Better still, serve it with your favourite garlicky dip and you’ll be in garlic heaven.

Garlic Herb Bread Twists
Adapted from: Gourmet July 2009

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (2 ounces), divided
Salt and pepper or your favourite seasoning blend
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lb / 900g pizza dough, (or use store-bought)
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Lightly oil 2 large (17- by 13-inch) baking sheets.
2. Stir together rosemary, thyme, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a small bowl.
3. In a pan gently heat the olive oil and stir in the garlic until it just begins to sizzles. Turn off the heat immediately. Add 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper to it.
4. Divide dough in half. Keeping half of dough covered with a kitchen towel, gently roll out other half into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin.
5. Sprinkle one half of dough with half of herb mixture, then fold dough in half crosswise from top to centre and then again from bottom to centre. Roll lightly to form a rectangle. Cut lengthwise into 9 strips (less than 1 inch wide) with a pizza wheel or a pastry scraper. Twist each strip from both ends and place on baking sheet, arranging twists 1 inch apart. Don’t worry too much if they flop back, you can just as well call them “rustic”. Next, brush with garlic oil and let stand while forming remaining bread twists.
6. Repeat process with the second half of the dough.
7. Bake bread twists, switching position of sheets halfway through, until golden (15-20 minutes total).
8. Meanwhile, stir together parsley and remaining 3/4 cup cheese in a shallow baking pan.
9. Immediately after baking, brush bread twists with remaining garlic oil, then roll in parsley and cheese until coated. Serve warm or at room temperature.