CHEAT'S CHEESY GARLIC AND HERB DOUGH KNOTS

I think most people who have ever stepped through the doors of a Pizza Express will of tried their dough balls at least once in their life but I don't think many people would consider trying to make them at home. That can seem like quite a lot of faff but this is were my cheat's version comes in. By using ready made pizza dough you can have these herby, cheesy, garlic knots on the table in under 1 hour but don't worry; the guilt of cheating will disappear once you try your first one. Trust me, they are proper lush!

If you do however wish to go all out and make your pizza dough from scratch then you can find a recipe for dough in the midst of my homemade pizza recipes by clicking here.

I don't blame you if you don't want to try this though as making any kind of dough can be temperamental. Only try it if you can afford for the dough to go wrong, if you plan on making these for a dinner party on the day you may want to just cheat to remove that risk.

You also don't need to top the knots with cheese at the end if you don't feel like it but in my eyes you might as well go all out if you plan on making these; they are hardly the healthiest of things in the first place are they? 

Recipe below will make 8 mini dough knots but feel free to scale up the recipe if you need to make any more. You can also use a non stick baking sheet instead of lining a baking tray if you have one.

Cheese And Garlic Dough Knots

290g Ready Made Pizza Dough

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Grated Garlic Cloves

1/2 Tsp Dried Basil

1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano

Large Pinch Of Sea Salt

50g Grated Cheddar Cheese

1. Pop your oven on to 200 degrees (180 fan) and line a large baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. Take your pizza dough and separate into 8 equal sized pieces. Take one piece of dough and roll  into a long thin sausage about 20cm long on a lightly floured surface. Tie the dough sausages into knots by wrapping them around your finger and tucking one end though the hole where your thumb is (watch this if you're confused!) and place onto the prepared baking tray. 
3. Repeat with the remaining 7 pieces of dough, spacing thedough knots about 5cm apart from each other. Cover with film and leave to one side.
4. Pop the butter and garlic into a small pan and place on the hob on a medium heat and keep stirring until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, oregano and salt.
5. Brush the dough knots with half of the melted butter mixture and then pop them in the oven to bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown, turning the tray round half way through to get a more even bake. 
6. Remove the knots from the oven and quickly brush them again with the remaining butter and sprinkle over the cheese. Pop the knots back in the oven for 1-2 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Remove the knots from the oven and serve them up straight away with a big bowl of mayo or tomato salsa on the side for dipping them in. The dough knots should have a nice little crispness to the outside of them whilst the insides should be light and fluffy. By brushing them with that herby garlic butter as well you should of injected them with lots of flavor but do be warned, these are not the thing to be eating if you plan to be doing any kissing later in the evening! That's the only downside to these slightly cheaty cheesy garlic dough knots, everything else about them is pure guilty pleasure.