Not your traditional garlic bread, this sage and roasted garlic bread is tender and flaky with lots of olive oil, and stuffed with ribbons of fresh sage and nutty cloves of slow roasted garlic.
Baking bread is one of my favorite pastimes, especially in the colder months. There’s just something so peaceful about leisurely and methodically making a bread dough, and then relaxing with a cup of tea or catching a quick nap while it rises. And you can probably tell that I love baking bread because of my abundance of bread recipes, like my prosciutto bread, stinging nettle focaccia, and jalapeno and sausage bread just to name a few. This past weekend was chilly and super rainy, and I knew it was the perfect weekend to stay inside and cozy up with a freshly baked loaf of bread. So to really drive home that cozy feeling I decided to use some traditional cold weather flavors in this loaf and came up with this sage and roasted garlic bread.
“GARLIC BREAD” IN A NEW WAY
Now this roasted garlic bread is not garlic bread in the traditional use of the word. Traditionally we think of garlic bread as an already baked loaf of bread that’s sliced and doused with minced garlic, oil or butter, maybe fresh herbs and then baked. But this roasted garlic bread incorporates garlic in a slightly different way. Much like my polenta bread recipe, I baked this bread with whole cloves of roasted garlic in it. Cloves of creamy and buttery roasted garlic stud each slice, and burst with garlic flavor in every bite.
In order to roast this garlic, I used the method outlined in my garlic confit recipe. This is a simple recipe that slowly roasts roasts garlic in oil (the confit part) until it’s buttery and loses that typical garlic sharpness, becoming sweet and nutty and creamy. And the best part about using garlic confit for this sage and roasted garlic bread is that you can incorporate the oil you used to roast the garlic right into the dough, ensuring its flavor truly is in every bite of bread. Plus, incorporating that oil into the bread dough gives you a loaf that’s super tender and flaky, with a crust that’s crunchy but melts in your mouth. When you pair that roasted garlic flavor with earthy and woodsy sage, this bread really does become the perfect loaf for fall or winter.
INCORPORATING MIX-INS IN BREAD
Incorporating “mix-ins” to bread doughs can be a little bit tricky. Some traditional mix-ins for breads include olives or nuts, and these roasted cloves of whole garlic are the same. Heavy mix-ins can inhibit the dough from rising properly, so I like to let the dough have its first proof without the addition of any mix-ins to ensure the yeast has a chance to work uninhibited. After the first proof, I knock the air out of the dough, then roll it out and sprinkle in the mix-ins. I knead it a few times to ensure I’ve properly distributed the mix-ins. Then I’ll shape the dough and let it proof again before baking. You can incorporate minced herbs (like the sage in this recipe) however, straight in the dough from the beginning, since they are light enough to not inhibit the rise.
Sage and Roasted Garlic Bread
Ingredients
For the slow roasted garlic
- 2 heads (about 20 cloves) garlic, cloves peeled but kept whole
- olive oil
For the bread dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp instant or active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup olive oil (from the roasted garlic), plus more regular olive oil for the bowls.
- 3 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250. In a small oven safe dish combine peeled garlic cloves and enough olive oil to cover them. Bake until garlic is golden brown and completely softened, 1-1 1/2 hours. Remove and allow to cool. (This step can be done a few days beforehand).
- Make the bread dough. Combine flour, yeast, salt and chopped sage in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water and olive oil from the roasted garlic (you can use some regular olive oil if you don't have quite enough) and roughly mix with a spoon into a shaggy dough.
- Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead dough on medium until tender and stretchy, 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand.
- Coat the bottom and sides of a large bowl with olive oil. Transfer dough to this bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 hours.
- After the first rise, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll out into a rough rectangle and evenly distribute the cloves of roasted garlic on top. Roll the dough back up and knead a few times to ensure the garlic is evenly distributed, then roll into a round loaf shape.
- Lightly flour a cast iron skillet and place the bread dough in it. Cover and allow to rise again, 1 hour.
- When dough is almost risen, preheat oven to 425. Bake bread right in the cast iron skillet until browned and it sounds hollow when knocked, 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing.
This sage and roasted garlic bread looks absolutely divine, The combination of earthy sage and sweet, roasted garlic sounds like a perfect flavor match. I love how this recipe brings a gourmet touch to homemade bread. I can’t wait to try this out for a flavorful twist on a classic loaf—thanks for sharing.