Breadsticks Rising: Pile Up an Endless Supply

Soft, warm, chewy, with just the right touch of butter and garlic…is there a carb delight more appreciated than the breadstick? Food for Thought stops munching long enough to dig into the legend, the lore and lusciousness that goes well beyond the breadbasket.

Well bread. The original Italian bread sticks, grissini, originated in the Piedmont region of Italy, but exactly when is open to question, according to The Nibble. One legend says a physician in 1675 invented grissini to feed the very ill nine-year-old duke of the House of Savoy, who was suffering from food poisoning from bread polluted by pathogenic intestinal germs. The good doctor asked the court’s baker to take the dough from the normal ghersa bread, cut it into narrow pieces, then stretch the dough until it was a long thin strip, and bake it until it was crispy. The grissini diet worked wonders, and not only did the young duke’s health improve, but he grew up to be a healthy adult, becoming the first Piedmont king in 1713. According to this version, that’s why grissini became the preferred bread in the Savoia household, known by all visiting royalty and aristocrats of the time. But…it may not be completely accurate. Historical records indicate that in 1634, a Florentine abbot found a novelty bread “with a bizarre shape, that is a bread loaf an arm long and thin like dead bones” in a town outside of Turin – a strange but recognizable description of a breadstick. And even further back in culinary history is a reference to a dish called pane (bread) barotellatus (stick). Whenever or whoever invented it, one of the grissini’s greatest fans was Napoleon Bonaparte, who founded a stagecoach service at the beginning of the 19^th century, mostly dedicated to delivering ‘les petits batons de Turin’ or ‘little sticks of Turin.’

There’s more than the breadbasket in store for these rising stars. Prosciutto-wrapped breadsticks are on Giada De Laurentiis’ appetizer tray for good reason…they’re easily prepared and swiftly consumed. More? Make a cheesy breadstick pizza or try Southern Living’s haystick breadsticks - sprinkle dry ranch dressing mix before baking, tie in little bundles, and enjoy with a marinara sauce dip. Go healthy with James Beard award-winning author Martha Rose Shulman’s whole wheat and rosemary, rye caraway or seeded semolina and rice flour breadsticks. Or take a cue from the breadstick king, Olive Garden (more to come on that), which last year rolled out the breadstick crostini and a breadstick sandwich to diners who couldn’t get enough of even endless portions of the ridiculously addictive bread.

All love for Olive Garden. If you want to recreate this enduring chain’s famous bottomless basket of scrumptious, warm breadsticks, we have the Top Secret recipe from ‘food hacker’ Todd Wilbur, who proudly claims he’s been creating original clone recipes of America’s favorite foods since 1987. He guesses, most accurately, that the breadsticks are proofed and sent to each restaurant, where they are baked golden brown, brushed with butter and sprinkled with garlic salt. Wilbur also reveals that he experimented with the yeast and flour before settling on what you’ll see listed below. The crucial step, according to Wilbur, is the two-stage rising process. Here’s how:

What’s inside.

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm

water (105 to 115 degrees F)

16 ounces bread flour (3 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

What’s on top. 

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water in a small bowl or measuring cup and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes foamy on top.  Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to mix the softened butter into the flour. When the yeast mixture is foamy, pour it into the flour mixture and use a dough hook to combine the ingredients and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. Place the dough in a covered container and let it sit for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it doubles in size. Measure out 2-ounce portions and roll the dough between your hands or on a countertop to form sticks that are 7 inches long. Place the dough on parchment paper-lined baking sheets, cover and set aside for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size once again. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the breadsticks for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush each one with melted butter and sprinkle with a little garlic salt as soon as they come out of the oven…be assured they won’t last long!