Know how to make garlic bread and add it to tonight's dinner menu

One of the best parts of an Italian dinner is the garlic bread or the garlic rolls. But making these at home can be hard for busy families.

There's always frozen garlic bread -- it's fast and easy, but doesn't have that restaurant flavor.  But with a few simple ingredients, you can learn how to make garlic bread and get the taste of Italian restaurant garlic bread in time for tonight's dinner.

Garlic bread made with butter and olive oil

One baguette or loaf of crusty Italian bread
2 cloves of garlic, pressed, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (not garlic salt) or 1 tablespoon of garlic paste
1 tablespoon mixed Italian herbs
1 stick of salted butter
1/2 cup olive oil

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Put the butter, oil, garlic and herbs into a small saucepan, and heat until butter melts. Make sure the mixture doesn't get too hot, or the butter will burn.
• Keep mixture on low for 10 minutes, to allow flavors to blend
• Slice the bread longways and brush both sides with about 3/4 of the warm oil/butter/herb mixture
• Close the loaf and make several shallow diagonal slices in the top
• Brush the top of the loaf with the remaining butter mixture
• Wrap the loaf in foil.
• Place the baguette into the center of the oven and bake for ten minutes.
• Turn it over, bake for for an additional ten minutes
• Cut into slices and serve hot

Cheese filled garlic bread

A warm, melted center of cheese makes this garlic bread something special.

The instructions for how to make this garlic bread are as easy as the first version.  But the result is something special.


Ingredients

One narrow loaf of crusty French or Italian bread
2 cloves of garlic, pressed, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (not garlic salt) or 1 tablespoon of garlic paste
Pinch of salt
Mozzarella cheese - 8 ounces sliced into long strips, or enough mozzarella cheese sticks to equal length of bread
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Put the butter, oil, garlic and salt into a small saucepan, and heat until butter melts. Make sure the mixture doesn't get too hot, or the butter will burn.
• Keep mixture on low for 10 minutes, to allow flavors to blend
• Slice the bread longways
• Cut a shallow trough longways in one side of the bread and place cheese slices or sticks into the space.
• Brush both sides with about 1/2 of the warm oil/butter/garlic mixture
• Close the loaf and make several shallow diagonal slices in the top
• Brush the top of the loaf with the remaining butter mixture
• Wrap the loaf in foil.
• Place the baguette into the center of the oven and bake for ten minutes.
• Turn it over, bake for for an additional ten minutes
• Cut into slices and serve hot

Simple garlic rolls in minutes

There's no need to fuss with complicated recipes when you make these garlic rolls.  But your family will never need to know just how easy they are. A few ingredients and a few minutes in the oven, and you'll have restaurant-quality garlic rolls ready for tonight's supper.

Ingredients

One tube refrigerated ready-to-cook dinner rolls
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 c butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons grated parmigiana cheese or Italian cheese blend

• Preheat the oven to 350 degree.
• Warm the oil, butter and garlic over low heat in a small saucepan.
• Open the tube of rolls and separate them.
• Stretch each roll into a rope of about 5" in length
• Tie each rope into a simple knot shape, tucking the ends in
• Dip each roll into the melted butter mixture, then place on a baking sheet
• Bake until just golden brown, about 15 minutes
• Brush the tops of the hot rolls with the remaining butter mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Serve hot.