There are about as many recipes for garlic bread as there are for meatloaf. Lately I have been experimenting with a few creations of my own.

Maybe it is just me, but I cannot have any Italian dish that has a tomato based sauce without some sort of bread. Garlic bread was made just for soaking up that left over sauce if you ask me.

A lot of people buy the pre-made frozen breads and if your in a rush, it is no major crime to use it, but if you want GREAT garlic bread then try this recipe that I through together a while back:

• 1 loaf of Italian bread.
• 1 head of garlic.
• Extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened.
• About 6-7 large fresh basil leaves, chopped.
• About 5-6 grinds of pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the top of the head of garlic off. In a lightly greased muffin pan, place the head of garlic head side up. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the garlic is soft. Let it cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Take the remaining ingredients except the bread and garlic and mix them together until all incorporated in the butter. Squeeze the garlic out of the casings, into the butter. Mix well.

Cut the loaf in half and spread onto the cut part of both halves. Bake at 400 degrees until the edges of the bread just start to get dark about 7-10 minutes. WATCH the bread, it doesn’t take long to burn. Remove from oven and slice into pieces when cool enough to handle.