Tomato-garlic bread

Yesterday I made this wonderful tomato-garlic bread, that I found in one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks. The book has a basic recipe for yeasted bread, followed with flavoured variations on this master recipe. I make this variation often as a small appetizer before dinner, and serve it with herbed butter, olive tapenade or a bread dipper. It makes a great sandwich too, or, lightly brushed with olive oil and grilled, a perfect starting point for bruschetta.



The recipe starts with roasting 2 lbs of tomatoes, fresh basil and a bulb of garlic (drizzled with oil seasoned with salt and pepper) in the oven for an hour, so some planning is essential. After roasting, the mixture is pureed and to be used as the liquid in the basic recipe. I sometimes add sliced sun dried-tomatoes for an extra flavour boost.
One recipe yields two loaves, but yesterday I discovered I still had half a batch of the pureed tomato mixture in my freezer, so I made 9 small rolls, which was a beautiful presentation also. It saved me so much time I'll always roast double batchesw of tomatoes now to freeze and have on hand whenever the mood strikes. Oliver bakes them in tomato cans, which also looks festive, but I never tried that variation. I never seem to have enough empty cans on hand ;o). The bread has a wonderful soft texture, stays fresh for at least a day and also freezes beautifully.