CHEESY PESTO PULL APART GARLIC BREAD

Appetizers, Side Dish by Cafe Christina

You cannot go wrong with cheesy garlic bread. You just can’t. I don’t know a single soul that could turn down a buttery piece of bread. Am I right? Bread is absolutely my guilty pleasure. Garlic bread. Cheesy bread. Bread n butter. Baguettes. Sourdough. I love bread. All kinds of bread and I certainly don’t discriminate.

This is going to be the perfect appetizer or side dish for anyone that cannot cook or needs a simple dish to bring to your Christmas party or dinner. It’s so easy I swear anyone could make it. The main thing to make sure you do is to slice the bread almost all the way through but not all the way. This way people can grab and pull apart the bread easily. It also creates little nooks for all that cheese and butter to fall into.

Also try:

CREAMY TOMATO AND HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE PASTA BAKE

CHICKEN “CAPRESE” SANDWICH ON CIABATTA

SPICY CARBONARA

CHEESY SPINACH + ARTICHOKE DIP

CHEESY PESTO PULL APART GARLIC BREAD

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

Serves: 1 loaf bread, about 6 people

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 French loaf (or other favorite bread)
  • 8 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1.5 sticks butter, salted
  • 2 tbsp basil pesto, store bought jar or homemade
  • 8 oz. block mozzarella, shredded
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Slice your bread into 1 inch pieces, but do not cut all the way through the bottom. Leave about 1/4 inch so that the bread is all still connected. (Reference picture above). Set aside.
  3. Add 1/2 stick of butter and the garlic to a small pan. Sauté on medium low heat for about 5 minutes until the garlic is golden and slightly crisp. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
  4. Add the hot garlic butter into a bowl along with the other stick of butter (chilled), and the basil pesto. The hot butter will melt the other butter and it’ll become a soft mixture.
  5. Lay a large piece of foil on a baking sheet. Then lay the French loaf on top of the foil.
  6. Spoon the garlic pesto butter into each crevice of the bread. Then do the same thing with the shredded mozzarella.
  7. Wrap the bread with foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take the bread out and lower the foil so that the bread is no longer wrapped. Now brush the top of the bread with olive oil. Then sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese on top. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and enjoy while hot.

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