Living in New York--and Brooklyn, no less--means that there's a pizza shop on nearly every corner. Of course, the quality and taste varies wildly from one shop to the next and every local has an opinion about his or her favorite joint (including me, of course).
Recently, I've been thinking about the non-pizza offerings at these types of pizzerias, which tend to usually be the same: meatball or chicken Parmesan subs, sausage rolls, strombolis, various calzones, mozzarella sticks, french fries, and of course, the ubiquitous garlic knot. I rarely ever order anything beside pizza at places like these, but my one exception is the humble garlic knot, which led me to try my hand at making these little treats at home.
They were actually fairly simple, using pizza dough and slathering it in a rich mixture of oil, garlic, and parsley. And tying the knot is fun and easy. But you can't even imagine how impressed friends were that I made my own garlic knots--it was as if I baked a three-layer cake! I can't wait to take on other non-pizza classics and hopefully wow even more people.
Image by Devorah Lev-Tov