5 Ingredients or Fewer

Carta Musica (Semolina Crackers)

December  9, 2012
4
1 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes about 20 crackers
Author Notes

These crackers are adapted from Jody Adams, the chef and owner of Rialto Restaurant in Cambridge, MA.
Making crackers seems daunting, which is why most people pick them up at the grocery store, but these can be whipped up by anyone who can make pie dough. All you do is work 3 ingredients by hand into a firm dough. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible (you should be able to see through it). Lay the dough on a baking stone in a 500-degree oven. Then watch it through the oven door as it puffs and warps and sets to toasty, rigid crispness. The perfect hors d'oeuvre crackers are within reach.

My family has been making these for 20 years, ever since I worked for Jody. At the holidays, we serve them with smoked salmon and this lemon-herb cream. This year, I'm changing to a smoked fish spread. But you might want to pair it with a cheese ball, pate, potted shrimp, rillettes, or pimento cheese. These crackers play nicely and get along with everyone, even dips. —Amanda Hesser

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup semolina flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling the crackers
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the flours and salt. Stir in 1 cup water with a wooden spoon, and work into a stiff dough. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead until the dough is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
  2. Set a baking stone on the lowest oven shelf and heat the oven to 500 degrees. If you don't have a baking stone, set a heavy baking sheet on the shelf.
  3. Cut the dough into 20 pieces, and roll each piece into a small ball. Cover the balls with plastic wrap so the dough doesn't dry as you work. Roll each ball into a paper-thin sheet using a rolling pin, and flour as needed. Don't worry about the shape -- you want them to look hand-hewn! Bake them off as you go, laying them on the baking stone (or floured baking sheet), turning them as they bubble and begin to turn color. They're done when they're golden brown on the edges, and crisp, about 3 minutes total. Cool on a wire rack, and continue with the remaining dough.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • carmenvidal
    carmenvidal
  • sophiea
    sophiea
  • Hibatt
    Hibatt
  • Amanda Hesser
    Amanda Hesser
  • Panfusine
    Panfusine
Amanda Hesser

Recipe by: Amanda Hesser

Before starting Food52 with Merrill, I was a food writer and editor at the New York Times. I've written several books, including "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook." I played myself in "Julie & Julia" -- hope you didn't blink, or you may have missed the scene! I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Tad, and twins, Walker and Addison.

24 Reviews

carmenvidal April 13, 2014
Great crackers for Passover week!
 
Mary W. December 5, 2013
I buy some (pretty expensive) semolina crackers that are very thin and crisp like this, but also have rosemary, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds in the dough, and flaky sea salt on top. They are one of my favorite things! I am going to try these with the extras...how wonderful it would be to be able to make them by the dozens!
 
breadwhisperer December 30, 2012
I've made these crackers almost every day since reading this! (For three teenage boys and their many friends.) I weigh out 170 g semolina, 145 g AP flour, then add the salt - but only 3/4 c of lukewarm water. Then I add enough water until it's just a little softer than pasta dough. Roll out through my KA pasta attachment (setting #7) and place it on the baking stone. By the time I've rolled one, the others in the oven are ready to be turned or taken out. They come out in all shapes - round, long rectangles, etc - but look great piled into a basket.
 
Amanda H. December 30, 2012
I do the same thing -- I roll as I bake. Over the holidays, I made them with my mother, and as I rolled, she manned the oven, turning them and taking them out as needed.
 
sophiea December 19, 2012
just made this and took a photo of my cracker stack, which is here: http://painterlychef.blogspot.com/2012/12/carta-musica-semolina-crackers.html#
so fun and crunchy.
I used a child's cylindrical block toy to roll it finely because my French tapered rolling pin just wasn't doing the trick.
 
Amanda H. December 19, 2012
Love! It's like cracker Jenga!
 
Hibatt December 16, 2012
How about using a pasta roller for these? I'm thinking that they could be rectangular rather than round...
 
ashley's B. December 16, 2012
I'd love to know if using a pasta roller works. (Would they get tough?) I can't roll things like this out anymore; using a pasta roller would be a great solution.
 
Amanda H. December 16, 2012
What a great idea -- I'm sure it would work well, and you can make them any shape. Let us know how they turn out.
 
Hibatt December 16, 2012
I just finished making them. I did some with the pasta maker and some by hand. I like the ones made with the pasta maker best because they are thinner. Had to use a lot of extra flour to keep them from sticking to the rollers.
 
Hibatt December 16, 2012
Oh, by the way, they are great!
 
Amanda H. December 16, 2012
Thanks for the report -- always fun to hear a success story!
 
ashley's B. December 17, 2012
That's great to hear! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. Yipee! I thought I'd had to give up making crackers -- now I know I don't have to. I think I know what I'll be making for New Year's Eve!
 
impeesa December 21, 2013
what great idea! I wonder If I could use my homemade tortilla press and just add another piece of wood on top to increase the pressure
 
beejay45 January 26, 2014
With the pasta machine, I'm thinking you could roll out a long piece of dough and bake it like that, breaking it up after it's done. It would give an even more rustic look. And I totally agree on the pasta machine being a lifesaver when your hands and arms can't take the heavy rolling. I use mine all the time, seldom for rolling pasta, however. ;)
 
johnnybracciole December 11, 2012
the dough is described as being stiff, which makes sense for a cracker, but at 1 cup water to 1 cup each semolina and APF, isn't the hydration going to be approaching 80% which seems pretty wet. looking forward to trying these.
 
Panfusine December 11, 2012
my experience with the crackers: I had to add a bit of extra semolina just to allow the dough prior to be pinched off rolling. but i suppose that much of water is needed in order for those puffed spots to get created by the steam.
 
sophiea December 19, 2012
Following the recipe, I had super wet dough and I had to knead in a lot of extra flour, and each cracker absorbed a lot more flour during rolling.
 
chardrucks December 11, 2012
you can also borrow some inspiration from April Bloomfield (who took her inspiration from Marcella Hazan) and make a carte da musica sandwich with some butter, shaved bottarga, a few slivers of chili pepper and a drizzle of olive oil in between.
 
mimiwv December 10, 2012
As thin as they are, maybe they would also work well on the stove top, tortilla-style.
 
Amanda H. December 10, 2012
I've never tried it but seems worth the experiment.
 
Panfusine December 10, 2012
Just tried it out with the stovetop & cast irol skillet.. Works great despite my paper thin rolling skills being terrible (the edges were a bit rounded and hence did not brown well), but an extra 15 minute session in a 250 F oven would crisp it up perfectly once all the crackers have been toasted
 
witloof December 10, 2012
I was just thinking that I wanted to try to make my own crackers because I'm tired of paying so much money for a tiny little box. These look perfect!
 
Amanda H. December 10, 2012
Oh good! They're fun -- get ready for a workout, rolling them out. Very forgiving yet elastic!