We sure bake a lot of bread in this house. I used to make focaccia bread a couple of times a week, but lately this incredibly easy artisan bread has been on our dinner table most nights. I wanted to get out of that rut and thought I'd make these easy herbed flatbreads for a change. I hadn't made these in ages but they are easy and fun to make and can be also used as an appetizer.
This delicious bread is sort of a cross between a cracker and a bread. It's a great excuse to break out your pasta rollers, if you have them. The dough is divided into small pieces and passed through pasta rollers to make a nice flat bread. If you don't have pasta rollers, just roll them out by hand but the pasta rollers make it so much easier and faster. These little breads don't have to be a uniform size or shape - it's kind of rustic anyway if they are not.
In the original recipe, it called for an egg wash on the breads, but I prefer to do an olive oil wash. The original also had a little honey in it, and I omitted that.
Parmesan Rosemary Flatbreads
makes about 16 crackers
adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook
for a printable recipe, click here
Ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water
- ¾ teaspoon instant yeast
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and plastic wrap
- 15 ounces (about 3 cups) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for sprinkling
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for sprinkling
- About ½ cup of olive oil, for brushing on the flatbreads
- Freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
Sicilian salt and silver salt spoon from The Meadow
Instructions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir the water and yeast together. If using a stand mixer, attach your dough hook. Add olive oil, flour, and salt and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Switch to medium speed and mix until dough is soft but not tacky, about 2 minutes. Add cheese and mix for 1 minute more.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface; knead four or five times, forming into a ball. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap; let rest for 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour or overnight. Meanwhile, line two baking sheets with parchment.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Using a pasta machine, pass dough through the widest setting a couple of times and then pass the dough through the next two or three thinner settings. (The thinnest I passed my dough through was #4). I like mine quite thin. If you don't have pasta rollers, just roll out thinly with a rolling pin. Transfer pieces of dough to prepared baking sheets. Brush the flatbreads with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and additional cheese and top with sprigs of rosemary.
Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until crisp and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Bread can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
