I mentioned this in chat awhile back and Bleeding Orange asked me for the recipe. Basically it's my take on Pollyeye's stuffed breadsticks. They turned out pretty good, but not quite as good as Pollyeye's makes 'em...they were far cheaper. Two reasons they weren't as good: 1) I didn't grill the chicken, I cooked it on the stovetop, 2) I got them a touch too browned.
The Dough. I used Steven Raichlen's pizza crust recipe from "How to Grill". I chose this because it makes a very good crispy crust pizza (on the grill) similar to Pollyeye's standard pizza crust. I'd say this crust came out a little more doughy than Pollyeyes, but it was very good. Biggest difference probably was I rolled the dough out, whereas I know they use a pasta machine type roller to get the dough very thin & even. Regardless this dough was close and here's the recipe:
Steven Raichlen wrote:
* 1 envelope Active Dry Yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
* 1 teaspoon Sugar
* 1 1/4 cups Warm Water
* 3 1/2 cups Unbleached White Flour, or more if necessary
* 1 1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt
* 1/4 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl and stir to mix. After 5 to 10 minutes, the mixture should look foamy. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a plastic dough blade or a metal blade and pulse to mix. Add the yeast-water mixture and 2 tablespoons of oil and run the machine in short bursts to obtain a smooth, soft dough. It should be moist but not sticky. If necessary add more flour a spoonful at a time, running the machine between additions, until the dough is the proper texture. You can also make the dough in a mixer fitted with a dough hook: place the yeast, sugar, and water in the mixer bowl. When foamy, add 2 tablespoons oil, and the salt and flour. Mix at low speed to form a smooth, soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead it by hand for a few minutes. Lightly coat a large bowl with the remaining oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down the dough and let rise until doubled in bulk again, about 1 hour. This second rising is not absolutely imperative, but your crust will be lighter if you have time to do it.
Filling:
I didn't do much here. I seasoned some boneless chicken breasts with oregano, basil, and garlic. I then sauteed it in Olive Oil and cut in strips. I also sauteed some mushrooms, because I like them in my breadsticks
I think I used crimini mushrooms (the baby portobellas).
After the 2nd rising of the dough I sliced it into 3 equal portions and worked one portion at a time (didn't have room to do all of it at once). I just rolled them out as thin and even as possible into a large rectangle. I then put some of the chicken/shroom mixture, and shredded mozz. cheese. I rolled it over, and cut the dough with a pizza cutter. Then just pinched the seam together, and the ends.
I then melted some butter and mixed it with garlic powder (I think Pollyeye's uses Garlic Salt). This makes a good garlic butter, but mine was unsalted butter, and definitely far less salty than Pollyeye's uses. I think I'd add some salt here next time. That or use garlic salt or salted butter...somehow it needs a little salt
I just brushed this mixture over all the sticks.
While I was making the breadsticks I preheated the oven to 450*. It was ready by the time I was done stuffing, and buttering, etc. I cooked some of them on a pizza stone and the rest on a cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes, long enough to see some cheese starting to ooze out where the seams weren't perfectly sealed. I then brushed them again with the garlic butter and placed them under the broiler on high. I set my timer for 3 minutes, and checked it after 2, but that was a touch too long. I'd say broil them for only a minute or 1:30, just to brown them...some of mine got a touch darker than I would've liked.
I took them out and gave them a final quick baste with the garlic butter (I really like butter
).
My brother worked at Pagliai's on south main all through HS, so I asked him about their ranch. He informed me that it's just a standard Hidden Valley ranch mix following the instructions of 1/2 buttermilk and 1/2 mayo. You can pick up the little packets in the salad dressing aisle. I mixed that up according to the instructions, and it's pretty damn close to the Pollyeye's ranch.
I actually ran out of the fillings and made a couple of sticks that were just cheese and a couple that were plain breadsticks, but if you made enough chicken (prolly 3 breast cutlets would be good, I only had 2), this will make probably 20 or so of pollyeye's style breadsticks. It is some work, but you can produce these for far less than the cost at Pollyeye's. They turned out pretty damn good but I would make those changes mentioned: Broil for a little less time, salt in the garlic butter, and grill the chicken rather than pan fry it.
Also I made these on a weeknight, but with the two rising sessions, I think this is probably better suited to a weekend.
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