The Absolute Best Way To Prep Garlic Bread Ahead Of Time
Let's say you're preparing an elaborate Sunday supper for friends and family, and you're gearing up for an Italian feast. Maybe you're making a delicious bucatini caccio e pepe, or pasta with burrata and charred tomatoes. No matter what the main course is you know that you want a plate of piping hot garlic bread to accompany it. But do you need to make it at the same time as you're prepping the rest of the meal? The answer may surprise you!
Garlic bread is the Robin to Italian cuisine's Batman, but its origins are humble. Garlic bread is said to have been invented in Tuscany before the Romans took over, and the dish began as a way for poorer Italian people to give day-old bread a second life at the dinner table. In addition to being tasty, the dish kept them well. Garlic, with its many health benefits, was used as a way to keep those without access to medical care healthy and strong.
Since garlic bread is traditionally made with day-old bread, it's not a dish that needs to be prepared and served on the same day. In fact, prepping garlic bread ahead of time can yield just as tasty of a result as if you made it the day you plan to serve it.
The freezer is your friend
Garlic bread is composed of hardy ingredients: garlic, butter, parmesan cheese, day-old bread, dried herbs, and salt, per Food Network, so it's easy to make in advance and freeze. In fact, you can actually freeze pre-cooked garlic bread for up to three months, according to the food blog Healthier Steps. Hard to imagine you'd want to wait that long, but according to Inspired Taste, it's best to make garlic bread up to eight hours before serving and store it in the freezer until right before mealtime.
Make the garlic bread as you ordinarily would with your favorite day-old bread. Loafy Bread recommends sourdough, Italian loaf, French bread, or ciabatta. Wrap it in foil and store the loaf in the freezer until thirty minutes before you plan to serve it. As for baking, there's no need to thaw the bread ahead of time (per Healthier Steps). Frozen garlic bread utilizes the same baking instructions as room-temperature garlic bread. Not only are you saving time by making it in advance, but you don't have to do anything differently once it's time to pop it into the oven.
Hot toasty garlic bread is sure to be the perfect complement to your next festive meal and making it in advance will save you time so you can enjoy yourself in the kitchen. Not to mention, the aroma will have your guests' mouths watering before they've even sat down to eat.