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?

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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!