Za'atar cheese sticks

January 28, 2023

   

Between Christmas and new year we had a day trip to Dandenong with my family, including lunch at AB Bakery. I bought a cheap but large bag of za'atar on my way out and we've been seasoning things with it often. Our za'atar oversupply also brought this bookmarked Ottolenghi recipe for za'atar cheese sticks to the top of my list when I wanted to make a party snack.

The concept is pretty simple, basically a shortcrust pastry with cheese and za'atar in the dough, sliced into strips and sprinkled with a little extra cheese and za'atar. It's crumbly, buttery and salty. I doubled the recipe and it was the right thing to do.

Speaking of doubling, Ottolenghi recommends using two kinds of salt for varied texture. I thought the cheese and za'atar offered plenty of textural variety already, but did sneak some of the oregano flavoured salt we have onto the top.

Za'atar cheese sticks

(slightly adapted from a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe in The Guardian)

125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

3 tablespoons za'atar

80g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

salt and pepper

90g cold butter, diced

1 egg, beaten

extra fancy salt (optional)

In a food processor, mix together the flour, half the za'atar, 70g of the cheese, and some salt and pepper. Drop in the butter and continue to blitz until the mixture forms a dough. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of baking paper and roll it into a rectangle of about 18cm x 14cm x 1cm thick. Transfer the paper and dough together onto a baking tray, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 200°C. Slice the dough into sticks of about 7cm x 1.5cm (I found a pizza cutter handy for this!). Spread the sticks out across the baking paper on the tray; you may need to line a second tray with baking paper to give the cheese sticks enough room. Brush the top of each stick with egg, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and sprinkle with a little fancy salt (if using). Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the sticks are golden and cooked through. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle them with the remaining za'atar.

Allow the cheese sticks to cool a little before serving.