By Cody is on day two hundred and seventy-seven. The thirtieth Saturday visit was Saturday morning. He has finished a third short story for the workshop. The story is called Mr. Garcia at the Auto Body Shop. It is four pages. It is about the man who hired Cody on a friend’s word in September of 2016 and gave him a two-dollar raise after one month and held his job for him while he served his sentence.
Cody read the piece to me at the visiting table on Saturday. The piece is the kind of writing that makes a reader pay attention to a person they otherwise might not have noticed. Cody had asked Mr. Garcia’s permission through me a month ago, and Mr. Garcia had said yes, and last week when I dropped off the chapbook copy at the auto-body shop Mr. Garcia opened it and read for ten minutes standing at the front counter and then said, very quietly, tell your brother I am honored. I told him.
And the recipe Sunday was parmesan garlic knot hearts, which I made because the recipe was a fall-festival-themed bread and because I had been wanting to try the knot-shaping technique. Garlic knots are pizza dough divided into strips, looped and tucked, brushed with garlic butter and parmesan, baked. The heart-shape variation is two small knots pressed together at the seam to form a heart.
The math: a 16-oz refrigerated pizza dough $1.99, three tablespoons of butter, four cloves of minced garlic, a quarter cup of grated parmesan, dried parsley, salt. Total: about $3.20 for a dozen knots, which fed Mama and me through Wednesday with the bread basket.
The technique is the strip-and-loop. You divide the dough into twelve equal pieces. You roll each piece into a thin rope about six inches long. You tie each rope into a single knot, tucking the ends underneath. For the hearts, you press two adjacent knots together at the seam so they form one piece in the shape of a heart. You arrange on a parchment-lined sheet pan. You brush with melted garlic butter. You sprinkle with parmesan and dried parsley. You bake at 400 for fifteen minutes until golden.
You finish with another brush of garlic butter as soon as they come out of the oven, and a final sprinkle of parmesan. The knots come out chewy on the inside, crisp on the bottom, with a salty herby cheese top that the steam from inside the bread keeps fragrant for hours.
Mama said, when she ate one Sunday night with her bowl of soup, baby, you have started baking now. I have. The bread arts have arrived in this kitchen.
The recipe is below. The trick is the strip-loop-and-tuck for the knots and the brush-bake-brush for the butter. Refrigerated pizza dough is fine if you do not have time for scratch dough.
Easy Parmesan Garlic Knot Hearts
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 18 min | Total Time: 33 min | Servings: 12 knots
Ingredients
- 1 can (16 oz) refrigerated biscuit dough (8 biscuits), or 1 batch homemade biscuit dough
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Extra Parmesan for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
- Make the garlic butter. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes (if using), and salt. Set aside.
- Shape the knot hearts. Separate the biscuit dough into individual pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 8 inches long. Fold the rope in half and twist it once, then press and pinch the two ends together at the bottom to form a heart shape. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Coat with garlic butter. Brush each knot heart generously with the garlic butter mixture. Sprinkle 1/3 cup Parmesan evenly over all the knots.
- Bake. Bake for 15–18 minutes, until the knots are puffed and golden brown on the edges and bottom.
- Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with any remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and extra Parmesan. Serve warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 148 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 0.5g | Sodium: 310mg