Directions

Put the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a food processor and process briefly before adding water through the feed tube. Stop processing when it comes together into a ball (about 30 seconds).

Briefly knead the dough until it becomes smooth, and then form it into a ball.

Add olive oil to a deep glass bowl. (I use a 2 quart pyrex.) Roll dough around in the oil until coated all over. Cover with a damp tea towel and place in a warm, draft-free spot for 1 hour. (For me, this special spot is my oven.) Or keep it overnight in the refrigerator and let it return to room temperature before proceeding.

Heat oven to 450º and start boiling a large pot of water. (The water should be 2" deep.)

Divide dough into 16 pieces. For each, use the palm of your hands to roll the dough back and forth into a 9" rope. You may need to rinse and dry your hands to give them just enough moisture to allow the dough to be rolled (rather than pushed, which is what a dry or floured surface seems to do).

Turn the ends of the dough up, then cross them around and press the ends down into the pretzel. (It's hard to describe so study the photo above or look at any pretzel to reverse engineer the move.)

You'll be handling 8 at a time, so when you have completed 8 pretzels, it's time to boil them. Hopefully your water is boiling. Lower to medium-low heat. Add the baking soda. Now boil the pretzels for 1 minute on each side.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Create an egg wash by whisking the egg with a large spoonful of water. Brush the tops of the pretzels. Sprinkle liberally with salt.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, shape, boil, and prepare the other half of the dough for baking.

Serve warm and store with plenty of ventilation so the pretzels don't get soft and soggy.