Garlic & Cheese Bread Sticks

I usually make garlic bread sticks when I have some left over pizza dough, or sometimes as a starter before serving the pizza. It can also be made with the ready made pizza base or any sliced long bun.



Ingredients:

• Pizza dough (size of a tennis ball)
• Some pickled jalapenos (optional) / or red chili flakes
• 3to 4 cloves of garlic mashed
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp butter

Method (if using Pizza Dough):

1. Preheat oven to 250 deg C.
2. Grease a pizza baking pan and keep ready.
3. Roll out the pizza dough to the desired size. You can make it into a thin crust or thick crust.
4. Prick the dough with a fork so that it does not create any bubbles.
5. With help of a spoon or by hand, spread the mashed garlic.
6. Sprinkle generous amount of mozzarella.
7. And top it with Jalapenos, oregano, red chili flakes and butter.
8. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into strips and serve with your choice of dip.

Same method applies if you are using ready made pizza base or long bun or bread slice, by skipping step 3 and 4. And the baking time should be 10 minutes or till cheese melts.

For the pizza dough:

• 3 1/2 to 4 cups of plain flour (plus more for kneading)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp instant dry yeast + 3 tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp oil + more for greasing 
• 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water (little less or more as required)

Method:

1)  In a small bowl mix together sugar, yeast and warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes till it gets frothy and bubbly.
2)  In a large bowl add the flour, salt, oil and yeast mixture. Combine everything slowly by adding water and until it forms a soft sticky dough. You can either use a stand mixer or mix by hand.
3) If the dough is too sticky and difficult to manage, add additional flour, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes to a solid form. Scrape the dough from the sides and turn it on to a lightly floured surface on a clean table. 
4)  Knead the dough for sometime in a stretching form, in order to build the gluten. The overall texture of the dough should be soft and not hard. In case if it sticks too much to the surface, sprinkle some dry flour and form into a smooth dough. 
5)  Grease a large bowl with some oil and transfer the dough into it. Cover the bowl and keep it in a warm place to let it double in size. This will take about 1 hour or less.