Olive Oil and Pepper Aperitif Biscuits

I can't claim that these little aperitif biscuits are in any way original. They're based on a simple, historic recipe for Le Pébradou (or Gâteaux au Poivre) from Limoux. These are certainly not British style biscuits to have with tea. They're actually considered a fine accompaniment to a glass of Blanquette de Limoux, which is possibly the oldest sparkling wine in France and maybe anywhere else on the planet. The biscuits are very pleasing with many other drinks too (alcoholic or not) and they're not too shabby alongside dips of various kinds.

Many aperitif nibbles are designed to tempt you to drink by having a lot of salt and these do something similar but with a little hum of pepper heat rather than salt. Although they're good at any time of the year, they're often associated with Christmas and so, for once in my life, I'm almost in sync with the festive season.

You can use whatever olive oil you'd like but personally I prefer a lighter style. If the oil happens to have a peppery flavour, then so much the better. The pepper is at the heart of this biscuit and, although white pepper is the traditional choice, using black or mixed peppers will still give you the right sort of result. Whatever you chose, make sure that the pepper is evenly distributed though the dough and a finely ground pepper makes this easier

Where I differ most from the original is in the appearance of the finished product. It's traditional to plait and twist the dough into ornamental rings. I'm happy to turn some into simple doughnut shapes, but I mostly just make something that looks like little bread sticks. 

The amounts here will give you around 35 biscuits, if you make them a similar size to mine.

400g flour

150ml olive oil

1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, 1 for the dough and 1 for glazing
150ml water

It's much easier to use a mixer with a beater attachment to make this dough, because it's firm enough to make it hard work by hand. 

Mix the flour, olive oil, pepper and salt to form a crumbly, loose dough. Add 1 whole egg and then add the water a little at a time to make a smooth but firm dough. You may find that you don't need the whole 150ml of water. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm (or whatever you prefer) and rest in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Divide the dough into small pieces (I find that around 18g - 20g per piece is about right) and use your fingers to roll out each piece into a sausage shape around 12 - 15 cm long. If you want to twist or shape the dough, now's the time to do it.

Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray and brush with a beaten egg. Bake for around 20 minutes until the biscuits are a nice golden brown, remove from the oven and turn them over to ensure the biscuits are evenly cooked. Return to the oven for 5 - 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.