Garlic bread is like beer. You go for the pasta but you want some garlic bread. You want that cheesy, meaty pizza but between slices bet you will reach out for a piece just like you'd reach out for a sip of beer between bites of a succulent steak.
I'm a lover of garlic breads - classic, cheesy, or the best one I've had so far, the chicken kheema super cheese garlic bread you can order from Joey's! I love them all!
I've been making garlic bread at home for a while, especially for small parties. This time, I decided to go a step further and make a stuffed loaf. Which I could, thanks to the mini oven mom-dad gifted me on my birthday last year.
I uploaded some pictures of the final product on Instagram and Facebook, and a few of you asked me for the recipe hence, I'm writing this blog.
Now let me make one thing clear. I didn't bake the bread so it's not that fancy. It's a fairly simple recipe and you'll spend most part of the time in doing the prep. The blessed oven will take care of the rest. Also, I kept calling it a meatloaf but 'he' kept correcting me saying, "Technically, it's not a meatloaf".
Things you'll need:
1 fresh French loaf (or two, or three, go crazy)
100 gms Chicken or Pork Salami
1 Pack of mushrooms
Salt
Pepper
Lots of cheese
Lots of butter
Fresh Oregano, Basil, Parsley (All or either)
Green chillies
Jalapenos/ Olives
1 Onion
Chopped Garlic
Balsamic vinegar/ Soya sauce/ Red wine
Non-stick pan
Oven (Of course!)
First things first. If the salami is in the freezer, take it out and give it time to come down to room temperature. It takes quite long to thaw which is annoying. Leave the butter out too.
Next, clean the mushrooms really well, you don't want to get an upset stomach. You might see some black velvet-ey stuff inside it. Don't freak out - I did, the first time I was cooking with mushrooms. They are called the gills. Though I don't know if they do the same job as fish gills. Heh.
You can scoop out the 'gills' using the back of a spoon. Be careful, though, it's easy to break the mushrooms and you don't want to do that. Don't worry if the mushrooms are too small and it's difficult to scoop it all out.
Once the cleaning and the scooping are done, chop them up into thin slices. Season with salt and pepper, and some oregano (I didn't use oregano) and leave it to rest.
Wash and chop the herbs. I like fresh oregano the best. The flavor is so strong and wholesome, you'll never use bottled or sachet oregano again! And I have to thank the great chef and friend, Arpita, for introducing me to the beauty of fresh herbs.
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| I know it's a lengthy process... Some inspiration... |
Chop the chillies and olives, slice the onions. Cut the salami - which should have thawed by now, hopefully - into small, fine pieces.
Next up, put a non-stick pan on medium heat and add some butter. Once it's melted, add the chopped garlic and herbs, let it fry for a minute till you can smell the garlic-y aroma. Add the onions and cook it till it's transparent. Add the salami to fry it slightly. This will bring out the flavor. I didn't and found that the overload of cheese easily masked the taste of the meat. Put in some balsamic vinegar or red wine. You can also use soy sauce if you don't have the other two. At the end, the onions should be nice and brown. Take it all out in a bowl and keep it aside.
Get the cheese out. Grate it into thin slices. We used Britannia cheese but you can use parmesan or anything else you like. Keep it on the side.
Take the French loaf and cut it into six-inch pieces (or larger, depending on the size of your oven.) Then, slit it diagonally with a knife to create pockets. Be careful not to cut it right till the end or it won't hold the stuffing.
Now comes the buttery part. If it's not soft enough to spread easily, you could put it in the microwave for 10 seconds (not more) to bring it to room temperature. Use a butter knife to butter the pockets generously. Layer the insides with the sliced cheese and add some pieces of the chopped chillies into every crevice.
Leave some mushrooms to top the bread later and mix the rest with the fried salami-onion mix. Add the jalapenos and olives. Fill the bread pockets.
Take some butter and brush the entire bread. This will help make it crisp. You can top the stuffed loaf with leftover chillies and the remainder of the mushrooms. You can grate some more cheese on top too because there can ever be enough cheese!
Pre-heat the oven for five minutes at 150 degrees. While that's happening, butter the tray slightly and place the loaf carefully - it will be quite heavy and could break easily.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 150 degrees.
Voila!
P.S. Writing the recipe down was an after-thought so I don't have step-to-step pictures.
