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Sunday 13 January 2013

roast garlic & talegio bread...


Garlic butter is a compound butter, basically a 'flavoured' butter. These butters are endlessly versatile. A flavored butter acts as a sauce, in essence and any flavoring can be added. Chopped herbs with lemon zest will go great with fish or red wine and shallots with steak for example.

Now, I have never met a cheese I did not like, but Talegio is one (from a very long list) of the cheeses that I love. A compound butter made with Talegio is a glorious thing. It is quite a strong smelling cheese, but its flavour is comparatively mild with a sweet tang to it. When heated, it loses most of its strong smell and is just sweet and salty and delicious. If you can't find any then Fontina is a reasonable substitution and a ripe Brie would do if you were stuck.


Roasting the garlic first gives you loads of garlic flavor without the harshness of raw garlic, and it is delicious on toast as well. You could just add some sliced parma ham, dressed rocket, a nice bottle of red wine and you'd have a one of my favorite easy suppers for two. 

I always make plenty of this butter as it freezes very well, and I do it in small batches. Then whenever you have limited time to make a meal, take some chicken breasts or a pork chop, add this on top and simply bake in the oven for a quick meal with some salad or steamed veg. Or cook some wide ribbon pasta like tagliatelli and toss through a spoon or two in the hot pan pan, finish with some basil and you have a mac and cheese for grown-ups. 


Ingredients
1 head of garlic
300g Talegio cheese – softened
200g butter – softened
1 bunch chives – chopped
Sea salt and cracked clack pepper
1 sourdough loaf - a day or two old.

Method
Roast the garlic first. Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Cut a garlic head in half around the middle and wrap in aluminum foil and put it into the preheated oven. Cook for an hour or so. When done, you'll find the garlic cloves have turned into a soft, fragrant and caramelized mass, that will practically jump out of its papery case. Just squeeze the garlic flesh out or remove with a fork. 

Remove the rind from the Talegio, cut into chunks and mix with the butter and chives. Season liberally with pepper and sparingly with salt. Empty all the garlic flesh into the cheese and butter mix, then mash it around with a fork a little. C'est tout. 

Cut slices vertically into the bread and stuff full to bursting with the butter mix. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and bake in a hot oven (about 200ºC) for 20 minutes. Remove, unwrap and serve immediately.


17 comments:

  1. I can just about smell and taste this from here, Amee. I think that Italian cheeses are very much undersused, except for Mozzarella, *usual suspect*! Give me this and a glass of Sauv, and I am a happy gal :) Love your mouthwatering pics, as always :)

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    1. Thank you kindly Colette, that sounds like my kind of supper.

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  2. Love the sound of this definately going in my freezer staples. Rosemarie

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    1. It's a handy one for sure, Rosemarie :)

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  3. Oh my goodness, this really really really really has my name on it!

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  4. This looks delicious! I love roasted garlic on bread, but I have never tried Talegio cheese. I know I need to make this!

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  5. I absolutely adore homemade garlic bread and always keep a little pat of flavoured butter in the freezer to bring out for steaks, bread etc. Love the idea of adding cheese as well - yum!

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    1. I think everything is improved by cheese, except maybe cornflakes

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  6. Looks absolutely beautiful. I adore garlic.

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  7. I love both Taleggio and Fontina cheese. They melt so sell and you are right, they smell stronger than they actually taste. Adding them to a garlic loaf would be brilliant, especially if it also features roasted garlic. A perfect weekend treat :))

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    1. The world would be a poorer place without garlic, it's true.

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  8. I'm going to make this to serve with my lasagna. I can't wait to eat it! I love bread. I love cheese and I love garlic!

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    1. Great Idea - It would be perfect with a nice lasagna

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  9. This looks and sounds delicious! Love the close-up of the finished bread; I can almost smell it. I have a wonderful garlic bread recipe that's slightly cheesy, and feel that I really should (for the sake of my family and friends, you know) add this decadent bread to my collection. Thank you!

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