Garlic: An Herb Society of America Guide

Recipes

Fettunta

I was introduced to fettunta in a Tuscan farmhouse, around the large kitchen hearth. It was a revelation about simplicity in food: saltless whole wheat bread, garlic, olive oil, and coarse sea salt made one of the most satisfying dishes I have ever eaten. I still like to toast the bread over an open fire and make a little hearth-ceremony of rubbing it with garlic and anointing it with a really good Italian extra-virgin olive oil before serving it to friends and family. We probably eat this at our home at least two or three nights a week—almost whenever we have soup, stew, or pasta—and always when we have the grill going. Make it yourself using the following recipe.

4 garlic cloves
About ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
12 ½-inch thick slices Italian bread

Peel the garlic. Mix the olive oil and salt in a small dish. Toast the bread until it is golden brown on both sides over an open flame, under the broiler, or in the toaster oven. Rub the toast on both sides with the garlic; the toasted bread acts like a grater for the garlic. Then dip one side of each slice briefly in the olive oil. Serve the fettunta immediately.

Makes 6 servings

Recipe © Susan Belsinger, originally printed in The Herbarist 2003 (6)

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