Sourdough Saturday – Herb Breadsticks

The weather has been warming up and the lettuce is about to over-grow the pots and take over the deck. So we’ve been eating a lot of entree salads this week. I am perfectly happy with a big green salad full of lots of veggies, along with a plant based protein or two, but I need some homemade bread to go with it. These sourdough breadsticks are just the thing to turn a salad into a meal.

I’ll be submitting this to Yeastspotting, so don’t forget to check out their other breadstick recipes too.

Recipe:

• 2 cups sourdough starter (see how to get your starter going here)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp each; dried chervil, dried tarragon, dried marjoram
• Kosher salt (optional)

In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine the starter, olive oil and milk. Stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, sugar and herbs. Mix well and then knead until shiny, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer and 10 minutes by hand. Let rise in a greased, covered bowl for two hours. Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and pat into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into breadsticks using a pizza cutter, cover and let rise another hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush dough with an egg wash (one beaten egg + 1 Tbsp water for soft breadsticks) or water (for crispier breadsticks), sprinkle with kosher salt, and bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Break sticks apart and enjoy!

Note: You really can use any combination of herbs here. I used three delicate French oriented herbs because I didn’t want to overwhelm my salad. But in the past I’ve also used basil-oregano-chive and rosemary-parsley-thyme. What’s your favorite herb bread combination?