I’ve eaten a lot of garlic bread in my life. I enjoy it, but it doesn’t make or break a meal for me. I can’t remember a great garlic bread or a bad garlic bread I’ve had. Garlic bread is ancillary to me.
Which is probably why I waited so long to make this recipe. Any time I meal-planned, I honestly forgot it was there. (I know this might sound odd given how much some people love garlic bread. I truly don’t know why I’m so ambivalent.)
Garlic bread is an old staple. And I mean old. According to good ole Wikipedia, its origins can be traced back to Ancient Rome! It’s traditionally a combination of garlic, butter and/or olive oil, and toasted bread. Simple. So what makes Alison’s garlic bread better? Caramelized, confit garlic and anchovies.
I peeled an entire head of garlic, and sizzled the cloves in a small bath of olive oil. The key is not to let the oil get so hot that the garlic burns, but hot enough to soften the garlic and turn it slightly brown. Once the garlic is ready, about 20 minutes, you’re ready to smash it with anchovies, softened butter and the garlicky olive oil. Spread the umami-filled mixture all over the sliced ciabatta and stick ‘em in the oven for 15 minutes at 425. I could have left mine in longer to get an even toastier bread, but our roast chicken was threatening to go cold, and I couldn’t stand simply smelling the bread any longer. I had to see if it was truly better than other garlic bread.
It was pretty good. I mean, given my ambivalence about garlic bread, I can’t claim it changed my life. But the flavor was definitively garlicky without overpowering. The anchovies got rid of any bitterness from the garlic. The bread was still soft enough to sop up juices but toasted enough to hold structure. We topped the bread with the buttered tomatoes from Alison’s Slow-Roasted Oregano Chicken. I love that chicken recipe, so it’s a high compliment when I say that I’ll likely start serving this bread with it every time I make it in the future. The best way I can say it is, it really is a *better* garlic bread.
188 recipes cooked, 37 to go.
