Garlic Knots

Confession time...I am obsessed with all things italian. The food, the wine, the language and the men. One day I would love to travel to Italy and learn how to cook. I know...I know...that's every foodie's dream isn't it? Well as cliché as it sounds, one day I will make that dream a reality. Until then, I will continue to eat loads of pasta, wash it down with wine, while drooling over ridiculous good looking italian men.

While day dreaming one day of far off places, I remembered I found a recipe for garlic knots. They looked really good so of course I had to try to make them. I've never been good at making bread - so I googled' "how to knead bread". Turns out, best decision ever! My bread rose PERFECTLY and apparently I was never kneading long enough. Lesson learned.


Ingredients for Dough
1 3/4 cup Warm Water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
Approx. 5 1/2 c  All-pupose, unbleached Flour

Ingredients for Garlic Coating
1/8 cup Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons unsalted Butter
4 cloves Garlic, finely crushed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian Parsley
Sea Salt to taste

Directions
In large bowl, mix your water, olive oil, sea salt, sugar and active dry yeast until full desolved. Add your flour a cup at a time and mix until fully combined. Knead your dough for 10 minutes or so. Cover the bowl with cheesecloth or a dry tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 1-3 hrs. I use my microwave...

Once your dough has risen, you may place it in the fridge for serveral hours before use. Chilling it before hand also makes the dough easier to handle.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 400° F

When you're ready to make your knots, divide your dough into two parts. Flour your cutting board and your hands, with the first half of your dough, roll it out into a 5"x16" rectangle, approx. 1/2" thick. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 1/2"x5" strips. Do the same with the other half of the dough. Now you can either roll your stripes into ropes, or just tie them into knots (over, under, and through). 

Place the knots on your cookie sheets leaving a fair amount of space in between each of them. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.

While your knots are baking, make the garlic coating. In a medium saucepan, gently heat olive oil, butter, and garlic. Add your chopped parsley and remove from heat.

After removing the knots from the oven, immediately brush on the garlic coating. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Serve warm.