Savoury Shortbread Recipe by Elizabeth Bard
Appetizer · Provencal Recipes · TasteThis easy appetizer comes from Elizabeth Bard’s latest book, Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes. The recipe combines Provençal flavours of rosemary and olive into a delicious savoury shortbread. The author has permission to publish the recipe.
Jean's Rosemary Olive and Parmesan Sablés - Sablés aux Olives, Romarin, et Parmesan
I have a real affection for the sandy-textured cookies called biscuits sablés. Here is the savoury version that Jean brought to our neighborhood cinema evening. They are extremely easy to make, provided your butter really is at room temperature when you start. Serve them with a glass of white wine and some plump dates; I can’t think of a better beginning to an evening en plein air.
Ingredients
- 10½ tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1¼ cups flour
- 2 scant tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
- ground black pepper
- 12 cured black olives pitted and finely chopped
Instructions
- An hour or two before you want to bake, take the butter out of the fridge. It needs to be really soft.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, rosemary, Parmesan, and a grinding of black pepper.
- Add the olives and the softened butter cut into three or four chunks.
- Knead the butter into the flour mixture with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed and a ball of dough has formed. Do not overwork the dough.
- Put the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper to a thickness of about ¼ inch.
- Using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter (the top of a glass will do just fine), cut 16 rounds.
- Bake on a sheet of parchment paper until fragrant and highly coloured, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Store in an airtight container; they keep nicely for 2 to 3 days.
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