Okay. I admit to bribery. Well. Attempted bribery. I’m hoping that serving up some homemade goodies at our little downtown Helena gallery will entice folks to visit today.
I wanted to make something sweet, but having just watched the trailer for the new anti-sugar documentary, “Fed Up,” I decided I also needed to make a savory treat. We had all the ingredients around for a cheesy decadent something-or-other. I checked my Evernote “recipes notebook” and found that I had clipped Smitten Kitchen’s cheese straws recipe years ago.
Mouth watering recipe, but so much cheese! I’m sure her cheese straws are out-of-this-world-awesome. Well, in typical Maureen-fashion, I adapted the recipe to what I had in our kitchen and added my own tweaks. I used chevre and parmesan instead of cheddar and decreased the total amount. I left out the salt, added caraway and used water instead of cream.
These are so easy I’m a convert. So is Tim, who ate at least 4 servings of these delicious crunchy snacks.
Chevre Cheese Straws with Caraway and Red Chili
INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup goat cheese (chevre)
- 3/4 c. grated fresh parmesan or asiago cheese
- 1/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 3/4 c. flour, white or whole wheat (I used 1/2 and 1/2)
- 1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
- 1 T. water (add a little at a time when you are doing the last pulsing. The chevre provides some moisture, but you may need just a wee bit more — thus the water — to make the dough ball up)
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a food processor, combine the chevre, parmesan, butter, flour, caraway and chili flakes and pulse for about 20 seconds until it is crumbly. Add the water (a little at a time) and pulse until the dough forms a ball.
- Lightly flour your countertop or other surface and dump out the dough onto it. Press into a ball, then roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into thin strips, about 1/4 inch wide. Doesn’t matter how long they are.
- Place the strips on a cookie sheet (ungreased, or lined with parchment) leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch between the strips (they puff up)
- Bake the straws for about 12 minutes or until the ends are lightly brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack carefully.
- Munch. Munch. Munch. Serve hot or room temperature. If you are serving them the next day, you can lightly heat them in the oven just before serving. Crunch!
These cheese straws are a bit like crackers. I served them instead of bread or another grain, with a Greek salad for lunch. We complimented the saltiness of the crackers and tang of the salad with sweet watermelon and strawberries. Yummo!

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