Free Crackers & Dips by Ivy Manning

especially welcome in a picnic basket or as part of a Mediterranean meze meal with the Rosemary Cannellini Dip ( page 114 ) or the Spicy Red Lentil Dip ( page 109 ). Any day-old crackers can be broken into pieces and used as croutons in salads or as a garnish for soup.
    MAKES 12 ROUNDS
    One 16-oz/450-g ball premade pizza dough
    Unbleached all-purpose flour for rolling
    2 tbsp unhulled toasted sesame seeds (see Cracker Tip, page 67 )
    Place a heavy rimmed baking sheet or a pizza stone on the center rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 475°F/240°C/gas 9. Let the dough rest in its package at room temperature for 30 minutes.
    On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough equally into four pieces. Divide each piece into three small balls to make twelve balls total. Cover all but one of the balls of dough with plastic wrap. Stretch out the uncovered ball of dough with your fingers into a small disk. Roll out the disk on the lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin (a taper-ended dowel-style rolling pin works best), picking up the dough after each stroke to make sure it isn’t sticking. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible; you should be able to achieve an 8- to-9-in/20- to 23-cm circle. If the dough springs back when rolling, set it aside to let the gluten relax while you roll out another piece of dough. Alternatively, pick up the dough with your fingertips and gently stretch and wiggle the dough until it is as thin as you can get it without tearing; you should be able to get an 8-in/20-cm round with a bit of patience.
    Spritz the dough with a little water, sprinkle with some of the sesame seeds, and gently roll over the dough with the rolling pin to adhere the seeds to the dough. Pull the oven rack halfway out of the oven, pick up the dough from one end, and carefully lay the dough on the hot baking sheet. It may stretch a little; an oblong shape is fine. Push the rack back into the oven and bake the lavash until it is browned in places, 3 to 6 minutes, depending on how thinly the dough was rolled. If the dough puffs up while it is baking, poke it with a fork to release the trapped steam. Use tongs to remove the lavash from the oven and place it on a cooling rack; it will crisp up as it cools.
    Repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough. Once you get going, you can bake two rounds at a time while rolling out more dough. Store the lavash in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

PERFECT CROSTINI
    Crostini are fairly simple to make, yet I’m amazed by how often I come across sub-par examples of them. Every good cook should know how to make this most basic of kitchen staples, so here I give you the simple guidelines to make simply perfect crostini based on a method I’ve developed over years of catering gigs and thousands, possibly millions, of batches of crostini.
    The most important thing is to start with the right loaf. Look for a rustic baguette that has a fairly fine crumb and a good, chewy crust, such as La Brea Bakery’s French Baguette. Rubbing garlic all over the outside of the bread will lend the crostini a subtle garlicky flavor, and this is one of those times when it pays off to use your best olive oil.
    MAKES 40 CROSTINI
    1 garlic clove, peeled
    One 1-lb/455-g baguette (see headnote)
    2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
    Kosher salt
    Freshly ground black pepper
    Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C/gas 5. Rub the garlic all over the unsliced baguette; the surface will become slightly sticky and smell terrific. Discard the garlic clove or reserve it for another use.
    Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the bread on a 40-degree angle into oblong slices that are about ¼ in/6 mm thick. Discard the first and last heel pieces, or nibble on them as you work. Arrange the crostini close together on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the slices lightly with the olive oil (a dabbing motion is actually more effective), and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
    Bake until the crostini become light golden