I find it downright impossible to eat spaghetti or lasagna without garlic bread. Any Italian dish that uses a lot of sauce is complimented well with a good garlic bread.

Getting the right bread can be difficult, but in the end just get what you can. Sometimes Italian bread just isn’t available. French bread and sub rolls will work in a pinch if you cannot find anything else. Obviously the Italian bread tastes the best for this recipe.

I use cheese on top of my garlic bread. Any dry cheese will work, such as Parmesan, Romano, etc.. Some people use mozzarella, but I find it makes the bread soggy.

Ingredients

• 1 large roll (about 2 feet) of Italian bread.
• 1 stick of butter, soft (let sit for an hour or so before using to soften).
• 5 cloves of garlic minced as small as possible.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of parsley.
• Parmesan cheese (about a cup).
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the butter with the garlic, parsley, and garlic powder. Mix until well combined.

Split loaf in half with a knife.

Spread the butter mixture all over the bread and place the bread on a baking sheet.

Bake in the middle for 10 minutes.

Remove bread from the oven and sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the bread.

Turn the broiler on and increase the heat to 400.

Place the bread back into the oven (middle) and DO NOT go anywhere. The bread will toast up quickly and you need to keep a constant eye on it. I don’t even close the oven door so I can watch it. The number one way to mess up garlic bread is to burn it and it happens very quickly. Once the edges start to get dark, remove from the oven.

After a minute or two, you should be able to handle the bread. Cut the bread into pieces and serve.

Modifications

For a sweeter garlic bread, add about a teaspoon of basil to the butter mixture and omit 1/2 teaspoon of parsley.

Add teaspoon of onion powder to the butter mixture and omit garlic powder.