Throughout the years, we made a simple garlic bread and there was always a dipping sauce on the table which is included in our recipe card below.
As a child, I still can remember the aroma of her baking homemade round and they will dense thick bread.
Day-old dense Italian bread like Ciabatta or Artisan bread was always the best to use and served warm was like a banquet.
The dipping oil consisted of assorted dried herbs all mixed together, then added to a serving bowl with oil poured over the herb, that sauce was the best with any bread!
Bread with dipping sauce is so addicting and the flavors melded together are an amazing part of the Italian meal, especially with Sunday Tomato Sauce, the bread is how we test the sauce!
We all love a good-tasting olive oil to dip the homemade bread in, it's a banquet all by itself, and those who grew up in an Italian home, totally understand.
As the years went by, carbs were always a concern, but that didn't change here, we still have our bread on the table and it's still served with every meal, especially Italian Stew, pasta fagioli, and Greens and Beans was delicious over stale bread.
Don't miss trying her dipping oil we have two versions one just herbs and one with olives and pumpkin seeds which is my all time favorite!
Scroll down to the recipe card for both recipes to dip your favorite Italian bread in!
Bread
There was always bread on the table with any meal mom or grandmom made.
Whether we were sitting there with just sliced deli meats and cheeses or delicious pots of stew, this bread will be a compliment to any appetizer or meal. Great for snacks late at night too.
Ingredients You Will Need
For the Garlic Bread:
- day-old Italian bread
- fresh cloves of garlic smashed
- Extra virgin olive oil first cold pressed (good grade)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Dried Oregano
- Grated cheese ( We love a blend of Parmesan and Romano cheese grated)
- Sea salt
For Dipping Oil:
- basil leaves
- Parmesan cheese
- roasted pumpkin seeds or roasted pine nuts
- garlic cloves, chopped
- salt
- Kalamata olives
- olive oil
- additional olive oil and bread for serving
Recipes We Love
No-Knead Bread
Pizza Dough
Foccacia
Garlic Knots
Panzerotti
Runza
Pin for later
Perfect Accompaniments
We love to use it to spread olive tapenade. shown in the first photo. It's the perfect spread for this easy and quick garlic bread. We also love her White Tuscan Bean dip, which is also wonderful on this bread.
Making homemade bread, (as grandma always had a loaf baking) was a double treat.
The bread hardly made it to the table or turned into garlic bread unless she made many loaves.
The next day she would make it into garlic bread.
Yield: 4
Grandma's Tuscan Garlic Bread
This is how to make delicious Tuscan garlic bread. The bread is toasted and is slathered with a good grade olive oil and fresh garlic along with herbs. There is also a delicious dipping oil recipe to try with freshly made Italian bread.
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 3 MinTotal time: 8 Min
Ingredients
- 4 slices of day-old bread or more (here is an Easy Homemade Bread recipe)
- Below is a dry herb mix ( add 1 tablespoon of mix to 1/4 cup of olive oil when serving)
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder (minced garlic will not keep well a day after but you can use it instead)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Toasted Tuscan Bread Instructions:
- The quality of the oil is a must with this recipe.
- Toast the bread under the broiler on both sides to light brown.
- While still warm and crisp, rub the smashed garlic cloves all over both sides of the bread.
- Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper and salt.
- Herb Mix for Dipping Bread in the Dipping Sauce Instructions:
- In a mason jar mix all the dried herbs and shake with the lid on.
- Place 1 tablespoon of dried herb mix in a dish and add 1/4 cup of olive oil to the dish then dip the garlic bread into this!!! Enjoy!
- Serve immediately.
- Here is a Copycat Recipe from a Popular Restaurant with olives and nuts in it"
- Dipping Oil
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds or roasted pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- additional olive oil and bread for serving
- Using a food processor, combine the basil, cheese, pumpkin seeds or nuts, garlic, salt, and olives.
- Process until ingredients form a paste Add the 1/4 cup of olive oil until well combined.
- Place a tablespoon of this paste into a flat serving dish. Pour olive oil ( around 4 tablespoons or more) on this paste in your dipping plate and stir, dip your bread into it and enjoy! Makes a little more than 1 cup
Grandma's Tuscan Bread Pin for later
Top Italian Recipes We Love:
15 Best Pasta Recipes
30 Appetizers and Side Dishes
20 Bean Recipes
15 One Pan Meals
Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2014. It was edited and re-published in 2020.