Cheesy Roasted Garlic Bread

I’m a firm believer in super cheesy, super garlicky garlic bread.  If I’m going to dive right into a carb, I prefer it be loaded with butter and cheese.  Go big or go home, right?

This bread was sort of an after-thought accompaniment to this pasta dish.  I had originally planned on making some garlic bread for a side and had even roasted a giant head of garlic the night before in preparation.  But then, as I got completely wrapped up in the process of making the pasta, I forgot about the bread.  I put the pasta on hold so I could make the bread (actually, I just wanted an excuse to eat so much cheese).  Best decision ever. (In fact, I sheepishly admit to you that I ate the bread, by itself, as an entire meal on its own one night. No regrets.)

I used cheeses that I had on hand (mozzarella and cheddar cheese), but you could use whatever variation you like.  If I would have had some ricotta, I would have layered that on, too (the more the merrier).  Throw on some spinach or sun-dried tomatoes for a flat-bread-ish kind of feel.  I used half a loaf of ciabatta bread here-but you could use French bread or really anything you like.  And don’t feel like you have to stick to the rules here-eyeball this recipe. If you feel like you want more cheese, add more cheese.  If you want more butter, add more butter.  And if you are afraid of so much garlic, taste the garlic butter as you go.  And don’t forget to enjoy the process.

 

 

 

Cheesy Roasted Garlic Bread

Servings: about 6-8 slices of bread (depending on how wide you slice the bread)

 

Ingredients

1 large head of garlic

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 loaf of ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally (I used both horizontally-sliced halves).

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 cup cheddar cheese (I used mild cheddar), shredded

Parsley, for topping (optional)

 

Instructions

1. To roast the garlic:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Slice off about 1/4-inch of the wide, bulbous part of the garlic, leaving the bulbs exposed.

2. Place the head of garlic on top of a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle the garlic with the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

3. Wrap the garlic tightly with the aluminum foil and roast (you can either put the wrapped garlic directly on an oven rack or place it on a baking sheet), and roast until the garlic is softened, about 45 minutes to an hour. ***I was roasting some beets at the same time for a salad, so it was the temperature/time frame I was needing for the beets.  If you have another preferred way of roasting garlic, then use your own method.  Let the garlic cool before handling.

4. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

5. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, combine the butter, roasted garlic, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl (adjust the garlic and salt according to your own preferences here), mashing the garlic up as you go.  Don’t worry if you still have some small bits of garlic (I actually prefer it that way.)

6. Spread the garlic butter over each piece of bread.  Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over each piece of bread and bake until the cheese is melted and lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes (watch carefully).  Top the bread with fresh parsley, if using.  Enjoy.

 

Source:  A Curvy Carrot original.