Cooktop Cove: How to make pull-apart cheesy garlic bread
By Emily Monaco
Garlic bread is a real crowd pleaser, and it only gets better with the addition of gooey cheese. In this recipe, a country loaf is scored and filled with richly flavored garlic butter. Add cheese and herbs, and bake until the bread is nice and crisp before serving.
This recipe demands a bit more effort than some because it uses both raw minced and roasted whole garlic cloves. The added time and effort this takes allows you to take advantage of both the mellow sweetness of roasted garlic and the sharper, piquant attraction of raw. You can easily roast the garlic in advance to cut down on prep time the day you make it.
Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread
10
15 minutes
1 hour
1 hour 15 minutes
1 round loaf of country bread
1 head garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Slice the country bread in strips in one direction, approximately an inch apart. Slice down toward the bottom of the bread, being careful not to cut it all the way through. Then turn the bread 90 degrees and do the same.
Remove four cloves of garlic from the head of garlic, and slice off the top so the garlic cloves are slightly exposed.
Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over the top of the head of garlic, wrap in foil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Increase the oven temp to 375 degrees F.
Mince the four reserved cloves of garlic.
Heat the remaining olive oil and half of the butter in a pan, and add the minced garlic. Sauté for just 30 seconds, then set aside.
Combine the remaining butter and cream cheese in a large bowl.
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skins and add to the butter and cream cheese mixture, mixing well to combine. Stir in the cheeses and red pepper flakes.
Press the cheese and garlic mixture into the crevices between the bread cube lengths. Drizzle with the garlic butter.
Wrap in foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper and serve.
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