Ottolenghi's Olive Oil Crackers

 

 

Wincing, grouchy, irritable, bored beyond belief - that was me last week. Terrible pain in my back and neck put me completely out of action for a couple of days. Followed by the very much dreaded dictum of rest and restricted movement by the orthopedic surgeon. Rest is anathema to me, just beyond me!  Hubby and kids home over the long weekend, ensured enough and more of it. Good in more ways than one, or boredom would have driven me to the kitchen!  Knowing me as a bad patient for 'rest' hubby said, 'Yes, you can't bake, don't even think about it for a few days'!  Sigh! Self pity!

Better this week, the baker and blogger in me kicks back into action! Thank God for crackers and the kind, low fat and exactly what I need to quickly come out of oven and hopefully on to the blog! 

 

Yotam Ottolenghi's Olive oil crackers from Deeba's had to happen sooner, but as they say, better late than never! Crisp and golden crackers with just about a splash of extra virgin olive oil, these are good! With enough spices to tickle your palate they will be good on their own, milder ones would be good too but with a dip.

Just be sure you do not use excessive flour for rolling as they may taste flour-y. Watch them very carefully as they bake, they bake really fast, burn really fast!  The baking time varies depending on how thin you roll the crackers, so a test batch for tasting is absolutely essential. 

 

 

The really simple recipe goes like this.
 

Olive Oil Crackers
200gms plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50gms whole wheat flour / 50 grams more plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
115ml water
25ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 teaspoon salt (vary to taste, a bit less if using salt as topping)
1 teaspoon red chilli powder

2 cloves of garlic, grated

 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Topping suggestions : Maldon flaky salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, minced garlic etc for sprinkling/topping

Method:
Sift all dry ingredients, except the sea salt  into a medium sized bowl. Add the oil and water. Bring it together, and then turn onto a work surface and knead briefly until smooth. This makes a fairly soft but stiff dough. Wrap in cling film and leave it to rest for an hour in the fridge.

Line 2-3 trays with baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 220°C / 430 F . On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll a quarter of the dough at a time, as thin as possible. {or you can divide the dough into 25 pieces and roll out thin tongues as described by Ottolenghi.}

Use enough flour to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. Brush the top generously with olive oil, then sprinkle on the sea salt, or topping of your choice. Cut into shapes, circles or squares or rectangles with a pastry cutter. Squares and rectangles will save you some re-rolling and consequently less light  crackers.

Place the crackers on the prepared tray. Bake for 5 minutes or less, until crisp and golden brown. Allow to cool, taste the test batch to help identify the baking time for the rest of the crackers. Store in an airtight container. 

 

 

 

We loved these and I will be making more of these soon! A word of caution though, the above recipe makes a whole lot of crackers, try halving the recipe if like me, patience is not among your virtues!