The Art of Making Garlic Bread

Like so many children of the 70's I was exposed to one type of garlic bread: thick slices of white bread slathered with margarine (butter if we were lucky) and topped with garlic salt and dried parsley flakes before being run under the broiler for a quick browning. This usually resulted in garlic bread that was soft on the bottom, too crunchy on the top and overpowered with pungent dried garlic flavor. There didn't seem to be a lot of thought to it; the bread didn't matter much, the garlic didn't matter much and the whole thing was made as more of an afterthought.

When I married and started making my own garlic bread, I was guilty of using the same method and turned out some not-so-good garlic bread in my time. Fast forward to post-culinary school and I still wasn't very good at it. I changed the granulated garlic or garlic salt to the real deal, but I still used butter and browned the bread the same way.

Finally, I settled on a garlic bread that my whole family loves and devours. Rather than using fresh garlic - which can be too spicy when it's not fully cooked - or butter, I switched things up by using olive oil and roasted garlic with a bit of good cheese to top it all off.

Here's my method - see if it doesn't turn into a favorite in your own home.

Start with roasted garlic. One whole head wrapped in foil or brushed with olive oil and placed in a small dish and roasted in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until soft.

The bread. We have local bakeries that make very good Italian hoagie rolls. I like this size for individual servings. Four rolls will give you eight good-sized servings.

Slice the bread horizontally.

Brush the cut sides of the bread with good extra virgin olive oil.

The roasted garlic. I use this on one of two ways; mashed together with Kosher or sea salt and then spread on the bread, or spread directly on the bread and then salted. Either way works well.

Roasted garlic spread atop the olive oil.

Sprinkled with sea salt.

Topped with a good quality cheese - not too much, you're not making pizza! This is a six cheese Italian blend - Asiago, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina and Mozzarella.

Lay the halves on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop into a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Baking them rather than broiling surrounds the bread with heat and crisps up the outside and melts the cheese without leaving the bottom too soft. Cut into pieces for service.