Cheese Straws (Parmesan)

These are wonderful with Parmigiano-Reggiano, but I imagine other hard cheeses or even cheddar would be equally good. If I were using cheddar, I would shred then freeze it before adding to the flour mixture in the food processor.

16 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½" chunks
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. sea salt
¾ Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Grana Padano, grated
½ cup water, ice cold

Freeze the butter chunks for about 10 minutes before making the dough.

Place flour and kosher salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add about ½ of the butter and ¼ cup of the cheese to the flour and pulse until the butter is in small crumbs. Add remaining butter and cheese; pulse 3 or 4 times, leaving visible chunks of butter. Add ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump – don’t over-process or your pastry will be tough.

Turn the lumpy, uneven dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a rectangle. Use a board scraper or your hands to create relatively square edges. Lightly flour a rolling pin and the top of dough rectangle. Roll back and forth to create a 12x16" rectangle.

Fold one edge of the 12" side to the center of the rectangle and repeat with the opposite edge, leaving a 4x16" rectangle. Use your hands and dough scraper to roll dough up like a jelly roll. Roll 'jelly roll' out into a 4x16" rectangle. Roll it up again; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll dough out on work surface into a ⅛" thick rectangle. Cut rectangle crosswise into ½" wide strips.

Transfer one strip to prepared baking sheet. Holding each end, carefully twist each end in opposite directions to create a spiral. Repeat with remaining strips on the two prepared sheets. leaving about an inch between each strip.
Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. (Refrigerate the other sheet until ready to bake.)
Carefully transfer parchment paper and straws to cooling rack and allow to cool.

Serve at room temperature.

Makes 28 straws.