Garlic Knots
These garlic knots are easy to make, and their buttery, garlicky flavor and springy-soft texture are sure to satisfy. For an extra delicious app or snack, serve them with No-Cook Marinara Sauce for dipping.
Makes: 12 to 14 knots
Cost: $7
Equipment
- Bench scraper or pizza cutter
- large rimmed baking sheet
- parchment paper
- Kitchen towel
- Small saucepan
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough, at room temperature (Weeknight Dough, Overnight Dough, Neapolitan Dough, or Sourdough Pizza Dough will all work great — or use your favorite store-bought pizza dough)
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated or pressed
- 1½ teaspoons dried Italian herb blend
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 to 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (not grated)
- Super-Easy Marinara Sauce (or your favorite marinara or pizza sauce), for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle position. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a 12- to 14-inch-long log. Cut the log into 1-inch pieces (you'll end up with 12 to 14 pieces total). Roll each piece of dough between your hands to form a thin rope that's about 8 inches long. Then, carefully tie each rope of dough into a knot.
- Place the knots on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart (or as far apart as possible). Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. (This resting time allows the knots to puff up a little bit for softer, fluffier final results.)
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, add the garlic, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Remove the pan from the heat, add the dried herb blend and salt, and mix well.
- Place the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in a food processor and pulse just until it is very finely chopped and looks fluffy like cauliflower rice or cooked couscous. (Alternatively, you can grate with a microplane grater-zester or the smallest holes of your box grater.)
- Remove the kitchen towel from the dough knots. Using a pastry brush, coat the tops of the knots with the garlic-herb butter. (Don't use all of the butter mixture, though, because you'll need it again when the garlic knots come out of the oven.)
- Transfer the baking sheet to the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the garlic knots are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the garlic knots to a serving platter. Brush the tops of the knots with some more garlic-herb butter, then sprinkle with the finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Serve warm with Super-Easy Marinara Sauce for dipping.