Fried garlic bread

Fried Garlic Bread

As you can imagine, I make a lot of homemade bread. Often, when I’m making pizza, I make extra dough for a loaf of bread. The problem is that sometimes, I make bread faster than I’m eating it and I end up with a half of a loaf that is starting to get stale.

I’m not big on wasting things, and I was recently inspired by the garlic bread served at a restaurant I visited. This is a good way to use up some bread that is getting a little old. I like this well enough that I might not be able to wait for my bread to get old. I might have to used fresh baked bread. What the heck, I can always make more.

Several 1” slices of homemade bread 
Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 whole peeled clove of garlic

Cajun seasoning

Fresh ground white pepper 
Grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

Heat a large cast iron skillet. Add about an eighth inch of extra good olive oil to the skillet and then add the smashed cloves of garlic. Cook the garlic until it starts to turn golden on both sides and then discard the garlic.

Add the bread and fry it until it starts to brown (like a grilled cheese sandwich, but without the cheese and the sandwich). Turn it over and grill that side too. As you turn it over, give it a very light sprinkling of cajun seasoning, not too much.

When the bread is golden brown on both sides, remove it to a plate. Repeat until all the bread is browned. Rub the fried bread with the whole garlic clove, until all the slices have been rubbed. Use another clove if necessary.

Sprinkle the garlic bread with white pepper and parmesan and serve.

Serving

What goes better with spaghetti than a few nice thick pieces of garlic bread? They are made for each other! To serve this, simply dish out a huge plate of spaghetti and then set a smaller plate next to it with the fried garlic bread. Now add a big salad, and open a nice bottle of Chianti. Ah, life is good!