Food Recipes Appetizers Appetizer Toasts How to Elevate Garlic Bread Garlic bread can be more than a spaghetti side. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 15, 2022 Close Photo: © John Kernick At her Brooklyn restaurant, Lilia, 2010 F&W Best New Chef Missy Robbins serves something typically reserved for red sauce pasta dinners and takeout pizza orders: garlic bread. Topped with homemade mozzarella and bottarga, it's such a fantastic dish — and an inspired demonstration of garlic bread's potential. For your next party, try giving one of these delicious ideas a go. Parmesan Garlic Bread Grill the bread Bread that's grilled over an outdoor fire has a delicious, woodsy flavor and needs only the simplest of toppings. © Chris Chen Get the Recipe: Toasted Bread with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Herbs Confit the garlic Heat big, sweet garlic cloves in oil with fresh thyme and red chile until they are ready to melt. Then, mash the cloves in butter and spread it on bread for a luscious take on the classic toast. Get the Recipe: Garlic Confit Rub with ripe tomatoes The simple act of peeling garlic, cutting a tomato, and then rubbing both on grilled or toasted bread creates a magical bite. Pa amb tomàquet, a specialty of Barcelona that cookbook author Steven Raichlen shared, offers irrefutable proof that the best dishes are often the simplest. The simple act of cutting a tomato and rubbing it on bread creates a magical bite. Pa amb tomàquet, a specialty of Barcelona that cookbook author Steven Raichlen shared, offers irrefutable proof that the best dishes are often the simplest. Assemble it in the kitchen, or provide your guests with garlic cloves, halved tomatoes, a cruet of oil, and a bowl of salt, and let them do the work. Greg DuPree Get the Recipe: Pa Amb Tomàquet (Catalan Tomato Bread) Add anchovies... This build-your-own garlic bread number hinges on high-quality, oil-packed anchovies such as Don Bocarte, Callol Serrats, or Delfino Battista. Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Get the Recipe: Anchovy Toasts with Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette ... or another fishy treat Anchovies can be polarizing, but there are other seafood upgrades to consider. Fresh sardines, pictured below, are a delicious option, but whipping up a salmon tartare topping is easier to shop for, or try smothering this bay scallop and marsala cream sauce on garlic-rubbed toasts. © Amy Neunsinger Get the Recipe: Sardines with Garlic Bread and Tomatoes Add goat cheese Tangy, creamy fresh goat cheese is delicious on buttery garlic bread. Get the Recipe: Goat Cheese-Garlic Toasts Top with a purée... Chef Nancy Silverton bakes chickpeas with a variety of flavorings — including onions, pancetta and carrots — then purees them with a good amount of oil and serves the spread on garlic-rubbed toasts, drizzled with a little more oil. © John Kernick Get the Recipe: Herbed Chickpea Bruschetta ... or a pâté "Nothing is better for big-party entertaining than putting toppings on bread," says Tamar Adler. She and her brother, John Adler, slice and toast bread rounds, then rub them with garlic before embellishing them with a healthy smear of rich, Marsala-laced pâté. © Michael Turek Get the Recipe: Chicken-Liver-Pâté Toasts Bruschetta and Crostini Recipes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit