If you've got a pasta machine, did you know it can do other things besides making pasta?
Here's one of them - you can make these sweet glazed crackers
The Recipe
Ingredients:
For The Crackers- 100g Plain flour
- 2 Tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon dry fast-action bread yeast
- 1 Teaspoon fennel seeds
- Pinch of salt
- Water to mix - about 4 tablespoons
- 1 Teaspoon honey
- 1 Teaspoon white sugar
Method:
Crush the fennel seeds - either in a little hand mill like this one, or with a pestle and mortar, or chop them on a strong cutting board by rocking a large knife back and forth over them
Put all of the cracker ingredients, except the water, into a large bowl and cut them together with a table knife
Add the water a bit at a time, until the mixture is just moist enough to form a stiff dough
Knead the dough on a floured surface until it forms a coherent ball
Run the dough through your pasta machine repeatedly, folding in half each time
The procedure is exactly the same as for pasta, except stopping at about number four - or halfway on the thickeness guage
Some of the fennel seeds will drop out as you do this - just gather them up and sprinkle them between the folded dough before re-rolling
Cut the rolled dough into whatever shapes you like
I chose triangles because there's no leftover dough to re-roll, and also, they tessellate well on the baking tray
Place the cut shapes on a baking tray and cover them with plastic film
Leave in a warm place for half an hour at least.
There will be little evidence of rising before baking, but letting them rest for this time does make a difference
Toward the end of the rest time, preheat your oven to 150 C
Bake in the oven for five minutes only.
While they bake, mix together the honey and sugar - warm it a bit in the microwave or oven if it's not runny.
Remove the crackers from the oven - they should be puffy, but not really browned. Brush them with the glaze and return to the oven for another five minutes
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool a little on the tray before transferring to a wire rack
Be careful when they are hot, because that glaze is melted sugar, which sticks to skin and is hotter than boiling water
