My family loves a good bowl of pasta. These breadsticks are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, perfect for lapping up the pasta sauce left in the bottom of the bowl.

Serves: 8 large breadsticks, 8 guests

Tools:

mixing bowl

baking pan

baking mat

measuring cups

Ingredients:

.25 oz or 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (not hot)

2 tsp fine white sugar

2-3 cups flour, sifted

2 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried garlic

1 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp parmesan cheese plus more for topping

For the breadsticks:

Dissolve yeast in mixing bowl with warm water and sugar. Let set until the yeast forms a foamy crust, about 10 minutes.

Add olive oil, salt, dried herbs, 2 cups of sifted flour and mix together until combined. Flour your hands and continue to kneed in flour until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Cover with a thin kitchen towel and let rise for at least one hour.

Section the dough out in to eight equal pieces. Gently pull and twist the dough in to bread stick form and place on your baking mat lined baking sheet (or flour a baking sheet if you do not have a baking mat). Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and dry herbs as you like.

Bake at 190 degrees Celsius. 18 minutes for softer breadsticks and 22 minutes or so for sticks with a little more crunch.

Serve with a hot bowl of pasta and meatballs.