French Bread with Carrabba's Bread Dip

I'm sure I'm not the only person who will admit that they are in love with Carrabba's special mix of herbs and spices that accompanies their delicious bread. It's the perfect addition to any Italian meal and I am excited to share this recipe today!

I found the recipe on one of my favorite, go-to recipe blogs, Plain Chicken. She swore it tasted just like Carrabba's version, so I had to give it a try myself to see. I have indulged in this dip more times than I can count over the years, and I assure you that this recipe is spot on. Perfection.

Carrabba's Bread Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic, fresh
• 2 tsp garlic salt

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients together. Store the mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. To serve, place about 2-3 tsp of the mixture on a saucer or in a small bowl. Pour EVOO over the mixture, and allow the flavors to meld together. Dip warm French bread into the mixture and enjoy! Leftover mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for a long period of time.

This recipe makes a lot!! We definitely had plenty to store for later, which isn't a bad thing. Just means I need to make more bread, right? ;) The original recipe did not indicate if fresh or dried garlic should be used. I chose to use fresh garlic because the mix you get at Carrabba's looks like it has at least some fresh herbs in it. I thought the fresh garlic worked great, but beware that it can be a bit overpowering since it is raw. I don't mind it, but if you are sensitive to it, you may want to use dried garlic instead.

To serve with this dip, I made my usual loaf of French bread in my bread machine. I use the WestBend Hi-Rise breadmaker. You can find it cheaper online at several major retailers, like Target and Walmart. I love this bread machine! Here's the recipe. It's delicious and I guarantee you'll love it!



French Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp water, at 80 degrees Fahrenheit
• 4 2/3 cup bread flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

Add the warm water to your bread machine first. Then add the flour, sugar and salt. Quarter the butter and add to each corner. Make a well in the middle and add the yeast there (keeping it away from the salt). Choose the settings on your bread machine. Instead of using the "French" bread setting, I normally select the "Super Rapid" setting on my machine, so that the bread will be ready in 2 hours, instead of nearly 4 hours. The only change I need to make to the recipe to do this, is to use an entire pkg of active dry yeast (2 3/4 tsp). This recipe yields a 2.5-pound loaf, and I also select "light" for the temperature, as I don't like my crust to be overdone.

This yields a delicious, large loaf of bread. For our family of four, it provides plenty of leftovers. One loaf makes 12-14 thick slices. If you want to make a smaller, one-pound loaf, use 1/2 cup, plus 3 Tbsp water, 2 cups bread flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp butter and 1 tsp active dry yeast (2 tsp if choosing rapid cycle). I have not tried making a smaller loaf, but I would hope this recipe would turn out the same. :)

I hope you love these recipes as much as I do. If you give them a try, please let me know what you think!