Garlic Ciabatta Bread

serves 6

From Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. This is old fashioned garlic bread but made with good ingredients: lots of chopped fresh garlic and herbs slathered on ciabatta bread. The whole house smells good when you make this.

6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 large ciabatta bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until finely minced. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over low heat. Add the garlic and herb mixture and cook for 3 minutes, until the garlic is tender but not browned. Remove from the heat
and set aside.

Cut the ciabatta in half horizontally, running a serrated knife parallel to the board. Spoon the garlic mixture onto the bottom half and spread the butter on the top half and place together. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and place on a sheet pan.

Bake the bread for 5 minutes, then unwrap and discard the foil. Bake for another 5 minutes. Slice crosswise and serve warm.