Loaded Cheesy Olive Bread

Right off the bat, this is once in a while treat. Its loaded with butter and mayo and cheese. 

The world is a better place because of butter. And cheese. Also mayonnaise. 

Taking a moment to thank the people who come up with such 'stuff'. 

So the other day, I wanted some comfort food. I had a bread lying in the house and in a moment of weakness my mind concocted(read : remembered) this recipe. Its easy with banging flavours. Would work excellent as a side or an appetizer. But you know me, this was my lunch. I felt a little guilty after I ate about 4 pieces of it (not really) but ohhhhmyGawwdd!! It was so delicious that I had a couple of leftover pieces again for the next meal albeit with a bowl of soup. 

Thus was the story of the yummy day. Its so easy that I feel embarrassed to even call it a recipe. Here's how it goes. And don't even think of using any condiment along with the bread, cause you won't even need it! Ha! 

Sidenote: My mouth waters at the mere mention of this gorgeous flavourful Cheese-y, olive-y bread! And I soooooo want to have it now!! 

Serves: 8-10

Time taken: 30 mins

Complexity: **

You'll need

1 baguette or something similar

1-2 heaped tbsp of good quality Mayo

2-3 tbsp butter

2/3rd cup of monterey jack or pepper jack or any melty cheese

1/3 cup cheddar or 1 tbsp of parmesan

1/2 cup black pitted olives

1/2 cup green pitted olives

3 spring onions, sliced thin

1 small red bell pepper, diced small

freshly cracked black pepper

pinch of love

Basil

Method

We'll first begin by chopping the olives. I had to pit the black olives. One wrong can of olives and my life spiralled in the extra effort zone. I mis read the label and got the whole black olives. Anyway, have your green and black olives ready on the cutting board. 

Take a big knife and go on a chopping trip. You need the olives to be almost quartered. 

Next, in a bowl, take the heaped tbsp of mayo. Please use the real stuff here, not the low cal version or the egg less version whatever that is. The Food Gods will thank you. Also if you use more off the rich trio- i.e. mayo, butter and cheese, the richer your bread will be. I however was a little scrooge-like and everything still turned out great! 

Add softened butter to the mayo. I used a herbed butter but you can use just plain salted butter and add a couple of spices like oregano/ parsley/ basil later

Add in the Monterey jack cheese or any cheese that completely melts

The cheddar. If you were using parmesan here, use is sparingly otherwise everything would become too salty. 

Add in the thinly sliced green onions

Next add in the red bell peppers. Dice them as small as you can, it will be easier to manage on the bread later. 

Now add in the olives, all at once. Olives are pretty salty on their own which is why we won't be adding any extra salt to this. Mix it all together. 

Crack some black pepper over the mix

Next add in some fresh herb like basil or parsley in the mix. I added in some basil chiffonade. It adds that fresh flavour to the cheesy bread. Clearly I was leaning towards Italian flavours. Let this mix sit in the fridge for about 15 mins so that the flavours get to know each other better. You can make this a day ahead as well. Even better! 

Pre heat your oven at 150C or 300C. Take your baguette/ roll of bread. I had a herbed bread at home and I used that. I'd have preferred for the bread to be a little crustier. Next time, maybe! Halve that length wise and place it on a lined baking tray which makes the clean up easier. 

Spoon over half the mix on each bread halve. Pile it on. Be generous! Place in the oven for about 10-12 minutes till the bread forms a harder crust and the cheese has all melted and turned golden and bubbly. 

Remove from the oven carefully and allow to cool for a couple of minutes 

......Before you start cutting it into about 1 1/2" pieces. My my my... Hellooo lovaah! 

Ready to serve. Come to mama!! 

Just look at how amazing this is... the beauty of that crust and that melted cheese that has made its way deep in the bread. (Ree thank you for this goodness!!) 

Indulge!