Garlic Bread with Roasted Garlic Butter

This garlic bread uses roasted garlic to give you a really moreish taste of garlic without the harshness you can get with garlic.

1 bulb of garlic
250g soft butter
salt and pepper to season
approx 3 tsp fresh herbs, chopped
grated rind and juice or half a lemon
olive oil
french bread

Step 1
Rub the outside of the garlic bulb to get rid of the papery skin, but leaving the cloves still attached to the main bulb and still covered with their skin. Using a sharp knife slice off the tips of the garlic, and spread a little olive oil over the garlic. Then wrap the garlic in tin foil, and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 220 °C. When the garlic cloves are soft remove from the oven and leave on the side to cool.

Step 2
Squeeze the garlic from the cloves into a bowl and add the butter, lemon, and herbs before mixing well using a fork to squash the garlic into the other ingredients. Lay out a sheet of cling film and place the butter in the centre before spreading out with the back of a spoon. When flattened fold the cling film over so that the butter is covered completely, taking care to leave a small gap between the edge of the butter and the fold of the cling film. Flatten while taking care not to squash the butter out of the cling film. Move to the fridge or freezer to cool.

Step 3
Slice the french loaf so that you have 3/4 inch thich slices and slip the firm garlic butter between the slices. Wrap in baking foil and put in a pre-heated oven at 220°C for about 20 minutes, in the last 5 minutes of cooking time uncover the bread to allow the topside to become crisp and crunchy.