Home-baked Grissini with Lemon and Coriander Humous

Over the last few months my Dad has started baking on almost a daily basis. He bakes anything from Chelsea buns to French baguettes - it's quite amazing. And tasty. Not so great for the waistline but nevermind.
When I was over there a few weeks ago, Dad and I made grissini and some humous to go with them. They tasted so flipping good and were much, much better than anything you can buy in the shops. And to top it off, they were so easy. We also made humous to go with them and packed in some lemon and coriander to make it extra fresh and zingy. Delicious! And then my sister came over with her children and we ate the lot.

Here are the recipes in case you want to try these out for yourselves, go on!
Home-baked Grissini

• 450g wholemeal bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 15g fresh yeast
• 250ml warm water
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 and have tray lightly greased or lined with bake-o-glide.
Measure the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, blend the yeast with a little water to make a smooth paste. Next add the yeast, olive oil and 175ml of the water to the flour. Work the dough until it's smooth but firm - you can add more water if needed. Once it's smooth, put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and put it somewhere warm until it's double the size.
Once it's doubled, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back. (which is essentially kneading the dough again). Cut the dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle about 5mm thick.Cut each rectangle in half again to make two and then cut these into strips about 1cm wide. Roll the dough using your hands into a thin round strip about 20cm long. And that is virtually it.
Place the grissini on the tray and bake in the centre of the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Cool on a wire rack. You should get about 50 breadsticks from this recipe and they freeze really well if you have leftovers.

Lemon & Coriander Houmous

• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 tbsp of tahini paste (or more if you prefer)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Few pinches of salt
• Handful of freshly chopped coriander

Drain the chickpeas and rinse under a cool tap. In a blender or food processor, add all the ingredients above except the coriander and blitz until you get a smooth-ish consistency.
Add more olive oil if it is a little thick and season to taste. Stir in the coriander with a metal spoon and it's ready to serve. Garnish with some additional chopped coriander and olive oil.
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Hope you love them as much as we did. I want to give a big shout out to my Dad who I think should open a bakery off the back of his recent success :) Enjoy!