Yummy Cracker Recipes for Soup

There is nothing better than fresh-baked crackers with homemade soup. This month we are having our February soup sale and I couldn’t think of a better time to share some easy, tasty, and quick cracker recipes with all of you.

Soup is just that much better when you have fresh crackers to serve with your hearty soup. I consider crackers the next best thing to fresh sourdough bread to go with your soup. Cracker recipes for me need to be simple and quick, no long-drawn-out complicated recipes in our busy lives. So, I had a lot of fun testing out recipes this month using our Tastealotta Olive Oil as one of the main recipes. Many of these cracker recipes can be adapted to your favorite herbs and tastes.

Olive Oil, Sea Salt & Herb Crackers

Olive oil crackers are so simple to make and the ingredients are inexpensive, but go and buy any of the gourmet olive crackers and it’s amazing what a small package costs these days. The first recipe we share is from one of the Ottolenghi cookbooks that can be found at your favorite bookstore or on Amazon.

You can make these yummy crackers for a fraction of what they would cost to buy at the store and all you need are simple kitchen tools, nothing elaborate! The next time you are craving a crisp, salty, fresh, and yummy snack or you want to impress your family or guests, serve these Olive Oil Crackers with Sea Salt and Herbs.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the surface you’ll be rolling dough on
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Tastealotta Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus a little extra
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Tastealotta Sea Salt Flakes for finishing
• Fresh dried herbs, your choice and combination: rosemary, oregano, thyme, tarragon, dill, sage, whatever are your favorite combinations, poppy seed, sesame seeds, there are really endless possibilities
• Some other options are to mix your herbs into the original dough, start with a small amount, so you dont overwhelm the dough. I like these crackers all three ways, herbs on top, integrated into the dough, and also mixed into the dough with a sprinkling of herbs on top.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, water, olive oil, fine sea salt, and ground pepper for a few minutes until it comes together in a formed ball.
2. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and leave it to rest for an hour at room temperature.
3. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
4. Make walnut size balls from the dough and then roll out each as thinly as you can into long, oval shapes. Place the rolled out crackers on the prepped cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Brush the individual cracker dough with olive oil and sprinkle with Tastealotta Sea Salt Flakes, your fresh herbs of choice, dried herbs, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc. I have also made up this dough with the herbs incorporated into the dough and I like it both ways.
6. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until crackers are golden brown in color. Allow the crackers to cool thoroughly before storing them in an airtight container.

Parmesan Cheese & Olive Crackers

If you love those very expensive Parmesan cheese and olive oil crackers as we do, we just had to figure out a great recipe so we could make these crackers at home. What is wonderful, these crackers are simple to make and a fraction of the cost of store-bought gourmet brands.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons Tastealotta Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Topping choices poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or Tastealotta Sea Salt Flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place oven rack in the lower third of the oven,
2. Mix together the flour, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, rosemary, and garlic powder with a spoon.
3. Stir in the Tastealotta Olive Oil and water until the dough forms into a ball.
4. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface and sprinkle lightly with flour.
5. Transfer half of the dough to the dusted parchment paper and shape the dough into a rough triangle.
6. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it’s about a 1/8 thick or less. I use a penny to judge the thickness of my dough.
7. Sprinkle the dough with half of the toppings and lightly press the toppings into the dough using your hands with a light touch. Prick the dough all over with a fork.
8. Using a pizza cutter, cut your dough into rectangles about 1 x 2 inches.
9. Transfer the crackers to parchment paper covered cooking sheets, separate the cracker slightly because they will grow with baking.
10. Repeat the above process with the remaining dough.
11. Bake your cracker until browned along the edges, which takes about 12-15 minutes. Keep a good eye on them, because you don’t want them to burn, which they can have a tendency to do with the parmesan cheese.
12. Cool the crackers on the baking sheet, then serve or store in an airtight container once completely cooled.

This cracker recipe was adapted from Hello Little Home’s Herb Parmesan Crackers. We just put our own spin on the recipe and you can too by trying different types of cheese instead of Parmesan and also using different herb combinations in the recipe above.

Be sure to come by Tastealotta for your Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Tastealotta Sea Salt Flakes. Also, realize with both of these recipes you can use some of our infused light olive oils to make these recipes even more creative. Have fun baking and teaming up your homemade crackers with your favorite Delicate Soups!