So, when I got a ball of pizza dough, the obvious answer was ...
... no, not pizza.
I decided to make bread sticks.
Pizza is the obvious thing you'd make, which is why I decided to make something completely different. It's a great use for the dough if you have extra left after pizza night. And it's great to buy extra dough just to make the bread sticks.
The great thing about crisp bread sticks is that they store really well. Bread goes moldy because of the moistness, but dry bread sticks are like crackers - they can go stale after a while, but they won't get moldy in a couple days like bread does.
You can use any herbs you like for this - oregano or thyme would be great, or any herb mix that you like.
Herbed Crispy Bread Sticks
1 ball of pizza dough
2 tablespoons dried herbs or herb mix of your choice
Move the dough from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw the day before you'll be using it. Remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature an hour before you'll be rolling it out.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Roll the dough to a rough 12-inch square. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the herbs. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, then fold it thirds again in the other direction.
Roll the dough to a rectangle about 6x12 inches. If it's difficult to roll, let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten and make the rolling easier.
Cut the dough into 12 6-inch strips. Pick up the strips one at a time and twist them to form a spiral while stretching them to about 12 inches long. Place them on a baking sheet leaving space between them.
Bake the bread sticks at 300 degrees until they're dry and stiff to the touch and they're lightly browned, about 35 minutes.
Remove the bread sticks from the pan and let them cool completely on a rack.
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