Italian Bread Garden Loaf

Submitted by WI Cheesehead

"This has been a traditional Christmas dish for us for years. Our "dinner" is mostly appetizers and finger food and this works well. You rip pieces off of the bowl and eat it with the vegetables."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1 round loaf Italian bread
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces italian frozen mixed vegetables (or any mixed vegetable of your choice)
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 ounce fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

directions

1. Cut off about the top 1 inch of the bread loaf and scoop out the bread, leaving about 1/2-1 inch all around.
2. Cut bread into cubes, toast in oven at 350° for about 20 minutes. Watch so they don't burn.
3. Meanwhile, cook vegetables in microwave for 3 minutes.
4. Combine oil, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and onion powder and blender until basil is well chopped.
5. Pour into mixing bowl and add mayo and vegetables. Mix well before folding in bread cubes. If the recipe appears too dry, add more mayo.
6. Fill empty bread with this mix; replace top bread piece.
7. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 30 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil folded over bread.
8. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes.

Reviews

[Heavens Kitchen]

This was okay, but it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped it might. I followed the recipe exactly, and the mayo and veggie mixture smelled wonderful when I mixed it all together. I tasted the mixture cold and thought it was very good; however, once it was heated inside the bread, I didn't care for it nearly as much. I'm glad I tried it, but it isn't a recipe I'd bother making again.

 

[Starrynews]

Thanks for a great recipe! The only thing I did differently was to mix only half of the bread cubes back into the dip, the rest I toasted and then put on the side to get the dipping started with. It was a really nice appetizer for our football party!

 

[Sydney Mike]

Here's another winner from a chef with a really nice bunch of recipes! I was originally going to make this as a 'main course' but instead served it as a GREAT finger food for one of the group meetings that I attend! RAVE, RAVE, RAVE ~ I kinda hoped for that, but was still surprised how they went on & on! Fortunately I took copies of the recipe [a thing I like to do when I THINK I found something special!], & I always point out the ZAAR site on the bottom! Anyway, this was a real hit with everyone! Many thanks for posting it!