Cheese sticks with broad bean dip

“This broad bean and mint dip is so simple, yet vibrant in color and very tasty. Its light, tangy flavour goes really well with the crisp cheese sticks. Named after the Roman fort on Hadrian’s wall, Birdoswald cheese is one of several cheeses made by local artisans in Cumbria. It is a hard cheddar style of cheese with a mature yet creamy flavour. If you can’t find it, substitute with any type of cheddar or Gruyere cheese. ” Luke Nguyen, Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Cheese breadsticks

• 250 g unbleached organic white flour
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp fast acting yeast
• 50 g Birdoswald cheese, finely grated, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 150 ml lukewarm water
• coarse polenta, for dusting
• sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

Broad bean dip

• 200 g podded broad beans  
• ½ lime, juiced
• 1 small handful mint leaves
• 1 small handful parsley leaves
• ½ garlic clove
• ½ tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. To make the cheese sticks, preheat a fan-forced oven to 200ºC. 
2. Place the flour and fine salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Stir in the yeast followed by the cheese, then make a well in the centre. Pour the oil and water into the well, then gradually combine until a soft dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. You can also make the dough in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook if you prefer. Lightly sprinkle the work surface with polenta, roll out the dough as thinly as possible into a large rectangle. Cut the dough into 1 cm-wide strips and roll each strip between your hands to create a pencil thin sausage. Place on a large baking paper-lined baking tray, leaving a 2 cm gap between each. Sprinkle with a little extra cheese and sea salt flakes and stand in a warm, draft-free area for 15 minutes or until slightly risen. 
3. Bake the breadsticks for 10 minutes or until golden and crisp. If you like your breadsticks very dry, reduce the heat to 160ºC and bake for another 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely, then store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 
4. Meanwhile, to make the broad bean dip, cook the broad beans in lightly salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain the broad beans, reserving a little of the cooking water to thin out the dip if needed. Refresh the beans in iced water, then drain again. There is no need to double pod them.
5. Place all the ingredients including the broad beans into a blender or food processor and blitz until the dip reaches the consistency you like, adding a little of the reserved cooking water if necessary to loosen the dip. Season to taste, then serve with the cheese breadsticks for dipping.

Watch Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom at SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.