Flaky Parmesan Cheese Straws
These are wonderful with Parmigiano-Reggiano, but I imagine other hard cheeses or even cheddar would be equally good. If I were using cheddar, I would shred then freeze it before adding to the flour mixture in the food processor.
Servings: 28 straws
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Grana Padano or other good Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup ice water
Instructions
- Freeze the butter chunks for about 10 minutes before making the dough.
- Place flour and kosher salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add about 1/2 of the butter and 1/4 cup of the cheese to the flour and pulse until the butter is in small crumbs. Add remaining butter and cheese; pulse 3 or 4 times, leaving visible chunks of butter. Add ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump – don’t over-process or your pastry will be tough.
- Turn the lumpy, uneven dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a rectangle. Use a board scraper or your hands to create relatively square edges. Lightly flour a rolling pin and the top of dough rectangle. Roll back and forth to create a 12-inch by 16-inch rectangle.
- Fold one edge of the 12-inch side to the center of the rectangle and repeat with the opposite edge, leaving a 4-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Use your hands and dough scraper to roll dough up like a jelly roll. Roll ‘jelly roll’ out into a 4-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Roll it up again; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll dough out on work surface into a 1/8-inch thick rectangle. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2" wide strips.
- Transfer one strip to prepared baking sheet. Holding each end, carefully twist each end in opposite directions to create a spiral. Repeat with remaining strips on the two prepared sheets. leaving about an inch between each strip.
- Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. (Refrigerate the other sheet until ready to bake.)
- Carefully transfer parchment paper and straws to cooling rack and allow to cool.
- Serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 14mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 221IU | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
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