Today we want to show you how to make Italian Grissini with leftover sourdough. It’s a quick and easy recipe that will help you use up your leftover sourdough starter between “feedings”.
Also known as Grisini, Grissini are a traditional Italian snack. These long, skinny crackers are made from bread dough that’s stretched into sticks and baked until super crispy.
The classic ingredients are flour, water, extra virgin olive oil and dry yeast.
Using sourdough to make breadsticks means you don’t need dry yeast. Instead, your bubbly appetizer takes care of inflating those breadsticks nicely for you.
Since your starter is essentially a water and flour batter, you only need to add a little extra flour to get the right batter consistency. Simply!
But before you start preparing these breadsticks, make sure the appetizer has been “fed”.
That means you’ve been feeding it water and flour a few hours before or the night before, depending on how warm your cooking or tangy entree is.
After “feeding,” the sourdough is active and bubbly, and has that characteristic sweet and sour smell and taste. Just what you need to make these breadsticks super tasty!
In the following recipe we give you the option of spreading the breadsticks with Italian herbs, sesame or semolina. You can also choose other toppings if you like or just leave the breadsticks.
Because we wanted this recipe to go as quickly as possible, there’s no need to let the dough or breadsticks rise. Instead, you can shape them and bake them right away.
However, if you have some time, we recommend letting the breadsticks rise for just an hour or so for extra flavor and tenderness.
As far as baking goes, if you want them to be really crispy and flaky, it’s important that you slowly bake the breadsticks at a low temperature.
We have tried and tested the cooking times and temperatures several times and have found that baking the breadsticks at 160°C for 50 minutes gives the best results.
We’ve already used this technique in our Italian sourdough crackers and they turned out perfectly crispy!
Then let the sourdough sticks cool and crisp and serve with your favorite dips.
And if you’re looking for more recipes to use up your sourdough waste, check out our 10 Minute Vegan Sourdough Waffles and Native American Sourdough Roast Bread.