Caprese Garlic Bread | Land O'Lakes

As you may remember, this year I partnered with Land O’Lakes to create recipes and share tips as part of Kitchen Conversations with Land O’Lakes and Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. 

 

I’m also joined by some great gals: Brenda from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles, Sommer from A Spicy Perspective and Julie from The Little Kitchen. Our second Kitchen Conversation was all about modernizing vintage recipes, and I’m so excited to share my recipe with you! 

 

 

Garlic bread has always been a staple in our home. Growing up, my dad would make garlic bread to go with every Italian meal. My dad’s lasagna, spaghetti, and ravioli always had garlic bread on the side. Carb overload? Maybe, but I never complained. Now, every time I make an Italian meal, I ask Josh if he wants garlic bread to go with. He says yes 100% of the time. I am glad he enjoys garlic bread as much as I do. And since we both eat it, it doesn’t matter if we have garlic breath. :) 

 

I love plain old garlic bread, but we recently gave the traditional garlic bread a makeover. We made Caprese Garlic Bread, and, let me tell you, this is the BEST garlic bread I have ever eaten. I am putting it in the top 10 recipes we have ever made… ok, maybe 20. I love a lot of our recipes! This Caprese Garlic Bread is a winner. It deserves a gold medal for sure! 

 

 

 

This garlic bread recipe has all of my favorite ingredients: bread, cheese, tomatoes, basil, and of course garlic and butter! We used Land O Lakes® Butter in Half Sticks for this recipe. 

 

 

 

It is perfect because the recipe calls for four tablespoons, which is exactly one half stick! Perfect! No need to cut a stick of butter in half and have the other half get lost in the fridge. 

 

 

We mixed together softened butter and minced garlic. Oh, what a glorious combination! 

 

 

We spread the bread—hey, that rhymes!—with the garlic butter. 

 

 

We added slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and popped the bread into the oven. We baked the bread for about 15 minutes, until the cheese was melted and starting to brown on the edges. 

 

 

We topped the bread with tomato slices, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and sprinkled fresh basil over the tomatoes. 

 

 

Next, we added a drizzle of balsamic that we had reduced to make it thicker and sweeter. 

 

 

And voila—Caprese Garlic Bread! The best garlic bread ever!! 

 

 

We cut the bread into thick slices and devoured the loaf. It’s crusty, cheesy, garlicky, buttery, tomatoey, basily, and a tad bit vinegary. I think I just made up a bunch of words, but you’re with me, right? It’s super-duper delicious!

 

If you are looking for an updated version of the classic garlic bread, make this Caprese Garlic Bread. It will change your life for the better. And it is perfect for summer! So fresh and tasty! We are going to be making this garlic bread all summer long. And don’t be worried about garlic breath, just make sure the person you are smoochin’ eats some, too. I am sure you won’t have to twist their arm. 

 

 

 

Caprese Garlic Bread 

 

Yield: Serves 8 

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Cook Time: 15 minutes 

Total Time: 20 minutes 

 

Ingredients: 

1 loaf ciabatta bread, horizontally cut in half 

1 Half Stick (1/4 cup) Land O Lakes® Butter 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 

2 medium tomatoes, sliced 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil 

 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place both halves of ciabatta on a large baking sheet with the cut side up. 

2. In a small bowl, combine butter and garlic and spread evenly on ciabatta halves. Place the mozzarella cheese slices on top of the bread, making sure the cheese covers the bread completely. Bake the bread for 12–15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

3. While the bread is in the oven, make the balsamic reduction. Place the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring the vinegar to a boil, decrease the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by about half. This should only take about 5–7 minutes. Set aside. 

4. Remove the bread from oven. Top the bread with tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the fresh basil and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Cut into slices and serve. 

 

Disclosure: Two Peas & Their Pod has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes^® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.