In Piedmont, the home of grissini, these best-of-all breadsticks are scattered on restaurant tables, unpackaged, waiting for someone to sit down and start the inevitable and irresistible munching. They’re usually quite thin, irregular in shape, and very crisp, with a faint sweetness. You can make these stirato, or straight, by following the directions here. Or make them rubata—hand-rolled and irregular—by just rolling the strips of dough after you’ve cut them to make them even thinner. Sprinkle these with toasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or sea salt before baking if you like, though it’s rarely done in their homeland.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 100 breadsticks

　　2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast, like SAF

　　1 teaspoon sugar

　　3 cups all-purpose flour

　　2 teaspoons salt

　　1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

　　1 tablespoon lard or 2 tablespoons more olive oil

　　1/2 cup semolina flour or cornmeal

　　

Step 1

Combine the yeast, sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt in a food processor; pulse once or twice. Add the oil and lard if you’re using it and, again, pulse a couple of times. With the machine running, add 1 cup warm water through the feed tube. Continue to add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a ball. It should be a little shaggy and quite sticky.

　　

Step 2

Put a little oil in a bowl and transfer the dough ball to it, turning to coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Reshape the ball, put it back in the bowl, cover again, and let rise in the refrigerator for several hours or, preferably, overnight.

　　

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets with olive oil and sprinkle very lightly with semolina flour.

　　

Step 4

Cut the dough into 3 pieces. On a well-floured surface, roll the first out as thin as possible into a large rectangle, about a foot long. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into roughly 1/4-inch-thick strips (slightly smaller is better than slightly bigger). You can also use a pasta machine: Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness by hand. Put it through the machine at the largest setting, then cut it using the fettuccine setting and cut the strips into 1-foot lengths.

　　

Step 5

Transfer the strips to the baking sheets, about 1/2 inch apart, and brush with olive oil. Bake until crisp and golden, 10 to 20 minutes, then cool completely on wire racks. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

　　

Fresh Herb Grissini

Step 6

Add 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, or a combination to the dough mixture along with the olive oil.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.