Upgrade Your Garlic Bread With Sun-Dried Tomato Compound Butter

The iconic sidekick to a bright bowl of spaghetti is one that no one can forget. Garlic bread is the delicious side that combines the crunchy texture of bread with creamy butter, tangy garlic, and earthy fresh herbs. It's a juicy and comforting masterpiece. There are numerous variations on garlic bread, but one that has yet to cross your radar may be the divinely complex yet utterly appealing sun-dried tomato compound butter.

A sun-dried tomato compound butter is a delicious way to upgrade garlic bread. Compound butter is butter that has been blended with an array of ingredients to create either savory or sweet flavor profiles. Injecting the deep and rich flavors of sun-dried tomatoes into a compound butter allows the aromas of this delectable jarred ingredient to meld with the fatty, creamy taste of the butter. Add the tangy savoriness of garlic to the mix, spread it over a large, soft loaf, and bake.

It's a flash mob for your palate, with the flavors blending into an effortless dance that's simply irresistible. Get started with a jar of sun-dried tomatoes and your go-to garlic bread components.

Sun-dried tomatoes have a wonderfully intense tomato flavor that is vibrantly bright and tart. They retain that sweet nature of their fresh counterparts, yet they have a more elevated taste. Finely chopping the sun-dried tomatoes (do not put sun-dried tomatoes in the blender) before mixing them into the butter is essential, as you want the flavor to spread to every edge of the butter.

Sun-dried tomatoes are key in this dish, but the type of garlic used also deserves attention. Roasted or fresh garlic can be incorporated into the butter. Raw garlic has a pungent, sharp taste, while roasted has a subdued garlic flavor with a slightly sweet and nutty aroma derived from the caramelization in the oven. Roasted garlic is preferable for a compound butter as its texture is spreadable and tender, compared to fresh garlic, which can have a crunchy bite. The mellow flavor of roasted garlic is also likely to blend better with the sweet intensity of the sun-dried tomatoes instead of the strong aroma of a fresh variety.

Using unsalted butter is also advisable within a compound butter, as you can easily increase the intensity of salt with a sprinkle over the top. While you may prefer salty garlic butter, this also allows you to adjust the butter for multiple dishes (some of which may already contain salt).

There are many dishes to pair garlic bread with, but this compound butter is not tied to just bready applications. Instead, consider spreading this butter into a grilled cheese for all those gorgeously sweet tomato flavors to blend in.

For a twist on buttered pasta, let this tomato butter beautifully coat those al dente noodles, elevating the richness of this simple dish with sweeter, more exciting flavoring. For an even more decadent butter that takes pasta and butter up another notch, blend in a little parmesan cheese, some crumbled feta, or even kalamata olives. These additions will further enhance the butter's rich flavors and creamy disposition — perfect for a quick pasta. 

It would also work equally well on top of a steak, where leaving it to magically melt will infuse the juicy golden meat with a sublime creamy and tart finish. Additionally, sun-dried tomato butter infused with the sweet and aromatic essence of fresh basil would be an excellent complement to this cut of meat or a pan-fried piece of fish. 

So many dishes are just itching for a slice of sun-dried tomato compound butter. The glorious bright taste of tomatoes mingling with the zesty garlic and fatty butter is bound to be a hit, on garlic bread and beyond.