Garlic Knots

We didn’t get too much done over here today, but I’m not feeling so guilty about it! We had a fun day. We watched a couple movies, Juno which made me cry, and Food Inc. which made me want to punch a wall.

It was an amazing documentary, really. A must see, which I knew it was so I was just a little late in seeing it. It made me really angry about the food industry, which is what I think it’s supposed to do. A lot of the info I already knew but it was good to get a refresher. And SOME of the information, about how food corporations are in bed with our regulatory agencies…that made me so furious and it was mostly new to me. I mean, I knew it was happening but to see names and faces of congressmen and judges and others who are involved with these people was just insane. INSANE. We have no idea what’s in our food and how it’s been treated, and the government does NOT have our backs on that the way that they should. Oftentimes the legal system is protecting the wrong side, and that is just uncool (not a new thing but still, uncool). It’s exactly the kind of thing I hope to be able to address one day in my legal career (look out FDA, USDA, and EPA…I’m comin for ya…).

But as for my part, I still try to buy organic when it’s available and I can afford it, and I’m getting used to eating along with whatever is in season. It’s a learning process for sure, but so worth it!

Tonight I made some garlic knots to go along with our ravioli for dinner. It’s an old recipe that I’ve been using for a long time, the dough is the same as my pizza dough. The only difference is the yummy garlic and cheese topping! I like to make the full recipe and save half of it for pizza the next day (the dough keeps well in the fridge).

Garlic Knots

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 T. salt
• 5-6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 T. olive oil + 3 T. olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 T. parsley, minced
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

-Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water and allow the yeast to proof for about 5 minutes, until it gets foamy.

-Add the yeast mixture to the flour, salt, and 1 T. olive oil in a mixer/food processor. Mix with a dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic and pulls into a ball.

-Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until its doubled in bulk.

-Gently punch dough down and roll out on a floured cutting board, cutting the dough into 24 even strips with a sharp knife.

-Take each strip and stretch it gently with your floured hands to make a long rope (about 10 inches long). Tie the dough in a knot and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the dough.

-Cover the pan with a towel and let rise in a warm place until the rolls have doubled in bulk.

-Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

-While the rolls are baking you can make the garlic topping. Crush together the garlic, 3 T. olive oil, cheese, and parsley to make a paste. I like to use a mortar and pestle for the dry ingredients and then stir in the olive oil.

-When the rolls are hot out of the oven, use a pastry brush to spread the garlic topping over all of them. Makes 24 rolls.

They were so good and I’m glad we have pizza dough all set in the fridge for lunch tomorrow! I’m off to go do meal planning for the week since tomorrow is grocery day…it’s also Soul Food Sunday so get excited! 🙂

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren