Recipe: Samin Nosrat’s Pane Criminale

This recipe from Chef Samin Nosrat’s new cookbook, “Good Things,” comes from her days cooking monthly dinners at Tartine bakery, where she tried to use its bread in every menu. There, she started scoring bread vertically to allow for a maximal ratio of garlic butter to bread.

“The resulting loaf was so laden with garlic, herb, and Parmesan butter that it was, well, criminally good. Friends soon started calling it pane criminale,” she writes. “This recipe shines when made with a rustic loaf of country bread, but baguettes work well, too. Either way, use the most flavorful, crustiest bread you can find — it’ll make all the difference.”

NOTE: You can prepare, wrap and refrigerate the loaf up to one day ahead. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Pane Criminale

Makes one 1-pound loaf or two 8-ounce baguettes

INGREDIENTS

10 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 tablespoons (4 ounces/114 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1⁄3 cup finely chopped parsley leaves, basil leaves and/or chives

1⁄3 heaping cup finely grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon garlic powder kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

One 1-pound loaf rustic country bread or

Two 8-ounce baguettes

DIRECTIONS

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat to 400 degrees.

Mince 8 of the garlic cloves. Gently heat a small saucepan over medium-low and add the oil and minced garlic. Cook, stirring and swirling constantly, until the garlic is tender and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Do not allow it to take on any color. (If you sense the garlic is starting to brown, remove the pan from the heat and add a few drops of water.) Pour the garlic and oil into a medium heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.

Finely grate the remaining 2 garlic cloves. When the minced garlic and oil have cooled to room temperature, stir in the grated garlic, butter, chopped herbs, Parmesan, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.

Deeply score the bread in 1-inch slices, but don’t cut all the way through. Use an offset spatula to generously spread garlic butter on one side of each slice, as far down as you can reach. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and place it on a sheet pan.

Bake for 20 minutes (10 minutes for baguettes). Unwrap the top of the loaf and bake until the crust is browned and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

— Courtesy Samin Nosrat, “Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share With People You Love” (Random House, $45)