In late March/early April, we spent two glorious weeks in Arizona. We stayed with friends for this duration because we had offered to puppy-sit (Jordan) while they took a quick 7 day holiday in Ireland. We had never puppy sat before but their beautiful black lab, Jordan is quite possibly one of the laziest dogs we have ever met so she was really no problem at all. We did get her used to three walks per day, that is, until we bumped into a woman carrying a black light, walking her dog after dark. I had to ask and yes, it was to detect scorpions. That was the end of our after dark walks. Period.
I like to arrive with gifts in hand and these basil Parmesan Straws were the perfect hostess gift because I had a bunch of basil that needed using a couple of days before our departure. Plus they are pretty tasty. Jordan thought so too.
Sun-dried Tomato, Basil and Parmesan Straws
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Makes about 75 pieces
To print this recipe, please click here.
Ingredients:
- 290 g flour
- 10 g Fresh Basil, finely chopped
- 50 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
- 10 g garlic, finely minced
- 110 g unsalted butter (cold)
- 30 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten separately
- 15-30 mL water or milk
- Sea salt
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
- Put all dry ingredients into a food processor, including the basil, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, and process to mix well.
- Add the butter and process to coarse granules.
- While the blades are running, pour in the egg and process until a soft ball forms. If this does not happen, drizzle little bits of water until a soft ball forms.
- Remove from processor and using a small amount of flour, roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness. Cut into 8cm x 7 mm straws and position evenly on a cookie sheet. Brush with second egg and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.
- Remove and allow to cool. This will store well in a cool, dark place or freeze.
Notes:
- I like to use a plastic ruler to cut the straws evenly. My ruler is a dedicated food ruler that never is used with pens or pencils or markers!
- This type of rolling pin gives you evenly thick dough, but as I have mentioned previously, it is a pain to unscrew the disks and I inadvertently have to wash all of the disks each time I use it.
- This dough is a bit wetter than some of my other recipes because of the sun-dried tomatoes and fresh garlic.
Lovely. I can tell by looking how delicious they are! Plus I like that you left them as is, no twisting business. Just straws!
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Thanks Chef Mimi, yes, I like them simple, no twist. It saves so much time.
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These look really delicious Eva. Love the texture and I’ll bet they are terrific with a martini! 😉
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Thanks Betsy, they are indeed very tasty with a martini.
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Such wonderful creativity Eva and I imagine the sun dried tomato and basil combination bringing so much flavor to these lovely bites. I’m always amazed (and delighted) by the depth of taste that herbs deliver; when I started experimenting with compound butters a few summers back, it was such a fun way to discover different combinations of flavor and take advantage of super fragrant garden herbs. Your friends must have loved your thoughtful gift and your time with Jordan (minus the scorpions, yikes) sounded pretty great too.
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Thank you for your kind words Kelly. Indeed, herbs are such a boost to what could be an ordinary recipe. We love compound butters too, particularly on grilled corn.
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Remember when you couldn’t get more than one meal away from a sun dried tomato? Now they’re all but forgotten. Obviously, it’s time to resurrect them! And cheese straws is the way!
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I do recall those days, used sparingly, they add a lovely, rich flavour to a recipe. Thanks Jeff.
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Eva, I would never ever think of using fresh basil in homemade snacks! What a wonderful idea and what a wonderful present they make (contrary to flowers I keep on begging people not to bring to my house!). I admire your talent and patience for all the savoury snacks you prepare!
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Why do you ask people not to bring flowers? Personally, I love flowers (although I abhor chrysanthemums and mums). It’s not a common hostess gift here. If I go to a party, I usually bring flowers in a vase so the host doesn’t need to go searching for one. They are simple and don’t cost a lot of money. Thank you for your kind words.
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We have a ton of basil at the moment, so your timing with this recipe is perfect. Looks terrific, too! And your recipes are always good – thanks!
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How lovely, fresh, garden-grown basil is awesome. I hope you do give them a go, they are quite tasty and would pair well with your awesome cocktails.
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Scorpians? I may be a Scorpio but still… I’d rather face a nice cheese staw than a venom-filled stinger any day! GREG
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I like Scorpios better than scorpions, hands down!
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Can you recommend a nice dry white wine to sip with these tasty straws? 🙂
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My house wine at the moment is Oggi Botter Pinot Grigio, it’s light, dry and fits the budget quite nicely, it is also a good summer sipping wine with these tasty straws.
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I have a bottle of Niagara Pinot Grigio in my fridge … I was planning on making some shrimp risotto.
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Easy to prepare and delicious to eat. 😀
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Thanks Karen, so easy that it’s one of my GO TO recipes to have on hand for cocktails.
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Looks really tasty with the combo of basil and sundried tomatoes.
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Thanks Angie, the flavours really came through even though they were baked!
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