garlic knots

warm garlic bread. can't beat it. these tasty carbs are part of my elegant man food menu that i'm writing about for my patch column this week. i gave my bachelor friend cooking lessons and he's now armed with skills to woo women with....garlic. check back later for the rest of the menu.
 
this recipe comes from kelly at just a taste blog.

ingredients:

1 lb. store-bought or homemade pizza dough, at room temperature
flour, for rolling out dough
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon finely chopped italian flat leaf parsley
kosher salt

directions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees.

line baking sheets with parchment paper.

divide the dough in half, keeping half covered under a kitchen towel. roll out the other half on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, creating a 10-inch square. if the dough is very stiff, use your hands to stretch it.

cut the 10-inch square in half with a sharp knife or pizza wheel to form two rectangles. cut each rectangle into 12 strips (the cuts should be made so that the strips are shorter and thicker, rather than longer and thinner).

tie each strip into a knot and then arrange the knots on the lined baking sheets. cover them with a kitchen towel while you repeat the rolling, cutting and tying process with the second half of the dough.

bake the knots for 5 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet and bake an additional 3-5 minutes until golden brown and fully cooked.

while knots bake, grate the garlic cloves using a microplane and combine with olive oil and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. cook just until butter has melted and mixture is warmed. remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley.

immediately after baking, brush the baked knots with the garlic mixture and sprinkle with kosher salt. serve warm.