Mushroom Bolognese Stuffed Garlic Bread
When writing this post for mushroom bolognese stuffed garlic bread, I was a little stumped about what to call it.
Yes, there’s garlic bread that is definitely stuffed with delicious veggie mushroom bolognese, but I did spend a while wondering which order I should list the components.
Then there’s the fact about the name bolognese. In the UK, we spell it bolognaise, so I got a little confused wondering which was the correct spelling, and during my research to check, realised there’s quite the who-ha about whether it even deserves to take Bologna’s name, at all.
And no, as per usual, it’s not authentic bolognese sauce, either. I just threw in what I fancied (just like I always do).
So, this recipe came about after I had a loaf of bread that was too stale to eat in a sandwich, but not stale enough to grind up into breadcrumbs. So, I thought: why not bake it to freshen it up a little? The thoughts tumbled along (as they invariably do with me), until I’d decided on making a mushroom bolognese to stuff into it.
The end result was spectacular. Even if I do say so myself. My 18 year old (who in fairness, eats everything I put in front of him) thought it had the wow factor. I have to agree.
This mushroom bolognese stuffed garlic bread doesn’t need to be vegetarian: you could stuff it with whatever tomato-based sauce you like. I made mine veggie because I don’t eat meat, and often adapt my old recipes to be meatless. Like this mushroom stroganoff.
Although my blog is predominantly about spelt flour, I didn’t use a spelt loaf. We can’t actually buy them in the shops here in Sweden (not at the fresh bread counter, anyway).
I did think about making my own, but I wanted a really hefty, thick crusty bread to make sure all the sauce and cheese stayed put. You can use any bread you like, but it needs to be a fairly large loaf. I used something called a vetelimpa (directly translated it literally means wheat loaf) which is a fairly dark loaf, from my local Lidl. It did the job perfectly.
Although I whipped up a batch of mushroom bolognese just for this recipe, it would be a fantastic way to use up leftovers. And there’s very little not to like about a combo of bread, garlic, butter, cheese and a flavoursome tomato sauce, now is there?
Mushroom Bolognese Stuffed Garlic Bread
Ingredients
Mushroom bolognese:
- 1 tbs butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 small red chillies
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or two cloves crushed)
- 120g (4¼ oz) mushrooms (minced or finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- pepper and salt (to taste)
- 500g (17½ oz) tinned chopped tomatoes (or Passata)
- 1 fresh tomato (chopped)
- 100ml water
Assembly:
- 1 large loaf of bread
- grated cheese of choice
- grated mozzarella
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or two cloves crushed)
- 15g (1 tbs) butter (you could use more if you like)
Instructions
Mushroom bolognese:
- Heat the butter and oil together until the butter has melted.
- Fry the onion and carrot together until softened.
- Add the chillies and garlic, and cook for a further minute or two.
- Throw in the mushrooms, paprika, oregano and seasoning, and cook just until the mushrooms have softened.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, fresh tomato and water and cook for around 45 minutes, until the sauce has thickened nicely.
- Put to one side and allow to cool before using it.
Assembly:
- Pre-heat your oven to 200℃ (390℉). Line a large oven tray with baking paper.
- Cut the top off a large loaf of bread (see what I've written in the main post) and carve out the bread (save it to make breadcrumbs), to create a deep trench. Make sure you leave about 2cm in the bottom.
- Melt the butter and add the garlic. Brush over the insides of the loaf.
- Add as much cheese as you like to fill the bottom (I didn't measure it, but went by how much it took to fill the hole).
- Spoon over your cooled mushroom bolognese, just until it reaches the top of the hole (I had the perfect amount of sauce).
- Sprinkle over as much mozzarella as you like (again, I didn't measure it, and just eyeballed it).
- Bake just until the cheese is bubbling and brown (around 10-15 minutes). Slice and enjoy with a tasty salad!
