Cheesy Garlic Bread

In the past, the way past my mother made her garlic bread by slicing the bread hassle-back style which basically means cutting the bread almost all the way through and putting in her garlic mixture. When I visited a fellow food blogger's site and she had her own hassle-back version of a cheesy garlic bread it inspired me to make some to have along side our left over Eggplant Lasagna. While I believe she used provolone, I decided to use mozzarella. Why? It was on sale as was the bread and this is after all, Cooking On A Budget.
Our store bakery had two loaves of mini Italian bread in a package and we used one loaf. The mixture makes enough for two loaves.

• shredded mozzarella cheese - the amount depends on how much you want to stuff in the bread
• 1 stick softened butter
• 6-8 garlic cloves - finely minced
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
• dried parsley
• dried basil

I used a small food processor to whip up the butter mixture, otherwise you have to mince the garlic by hand. Using the processor is much quicker.

1. Peel the garlic cloves and place them in the food processor. Whiz them around until they are finely minced. Scrap the bowl if necessary and blitz again.
2. Add to the processor bowl your soften butter. Blitz until incorporated.
3. While the processor is running drizzle in the olive oil until mixed well.
4. Slice your bread vertically almost to the bottom.
5. Spread the butter mixture in between the slices on both sides.
6. Then stuff in as much cheese in between as you would like.
7. Spread the extra butter all over the top and sides of the filled loaves if there is enough to go around. If not melt some butter if necessary and brush it on.
8. Sprinkle the tops with the dried spices to your liking.
9. Bake the bread wrapped in foil in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes until golden brown.

One loaf of this delicious bread cost $2.47 and was enough for four people at a cost of .61¢ per serving.