Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 28 min | Total: 38 min | Serves: 6 | Dietary: Vegetarian
This is the one you put in the middle of the table and watch disappear. A whole cob loaf cut into squares, stuffed with garlic butter and two kinds of cheese. Chooki's Zest Chicken Salt goes through the butter, so every single square gets that lemony hit instead of just the ones on top.
- 1 round crusty cob loaf, about 500g
- 120g butter, softened
- 4 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2 tablespoons Chooki's Zest Chicken Salt
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 150g tasty cheddar, grated
- 100g mozzarella, grated
Step 1: Score
Cut the loaf in a criss-cross grid, about 2cm apart each way. Push the knife down until you can nearly feel it through the bottom, then stop. The base has to stay intact or the whole thing falls apart when you lift it. A serrated bread knife makes this much easier than a chef's knife.
Step 2: Mix the butter
Stir the soft butter together with the garlic, Chooki's Zest Chicken Salt and parsley until it looks like a paste. Do not melt it. Soft butter stays where you put it, melted butter runs straight to the bottom of the loaf and pools there.
Step 3: Stuff it
Prise each cut open and push the butter in with a teaspoon. Then work the cheddar and mozzarella down into the same gaps. Get into the middle squares properly, not just the outside ones. Those are the ones everybody goes for first.
Step 4: Bake
Sit the loaf on a scrunched-up bed of foil on a tray, wrap it loosely and bake at 180C fan-forced for 20 minutes. Open the foil right out and give it another 8 minutes so the cheese bubbles and the exposed corners go crunchy.
Tip: Day-old bread beats fresh here. A fresh loaf squashes flat under the knife, a day-old one holds its shape while you cut.