Leftover BBA bread and spaghetti sauce

Most of the time, we have no leftover BBA bread. And I generally don't halve the recipes the way some other BBA bakers do. See, hubby and the baby love homemade bread, and are generally capable of eating whatever quantity I make. Occasionally either hubby or I will take bread in to work to share, but it's usually not leftover. In fact, hubby often gets a little crabby with me: "Why do they get my bread?!"

But right after I baked pain de campagne, hubby got ill. The details are not appropriate for a food blog, but suffice it to say that no more bread was eaten that weekend. It was too early in the weekend for the bread to survive until Monday and still taste as good, and I didn't want to throw it away, so I froze it. I know a lot of people freeze their extra bread and swear by it, but I must be doing something wrong (wrapping thoroughly in saran wrap, then in aluminum foil, then placed in a freezer-safe bag . . .?) because I never think it tastes as good after it thaws as it does when it's fresh.

So this time, when I pulled the bread out of the freezer, we sliced it lengthwise (note to self: slice before freezing next time!!!) and then I used it to make garlic bread. Hubby is pretty insistent that this is the best garlic bread ever, and if he ever opens an Italian restaurant (hahaha), this will be the standard.

Garlic bread, adapted from America's Test Kitchen's cheesy garlic bread
1 loaf of leftover BBA bread (we've tried it with pain de campagne and pane siciliano so far), sliced horizontally
1 tbsp minced garlic
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt the butter over low-medium heat until foaming. Add the garlic and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (and watching to make sure it doesn't burn). Stir in the salt and pepper.
3. Use a pastry brush to brush both sides of the bread liberally with the butter mixture. Put two halves back together and wrap in foil.
4. Place on baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. Unwrap bread and place buttered-side up on cookie sheet; return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes.
5. Slice and devour.

We ate ours with our new favorite Spaghetti sauce, adapted from Cooking Light:
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 c chopped onion
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 bay leaf
20 oz lean ground turkey
1/2 lb lean ground pork
2 slices pancetta, chopped (about 2 oz)
1/4 c tomato paste
2 big tomatoes, chopped (or 1/2 lb plum tomatoes, chopped)
1 1/2 c vegetable broth
1 c white wine
1 c 1% milk
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 oz Parmesan rind
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 box whole wheat rigatoni
optional for topping:
1/2 c grated fresh Parmesan
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat olive oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, and bay leaf to pan. Cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add turkey, pork, pancetta, and 1/4 tsp salt and cook until ground meat is no longer pink (about 6-8 minutes).
3. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute.
4. Add tomatoes, broth, wine, milk, nutmeg, and rind. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer 45 minutes.
5. Add cinnamon stick and simmer 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.
7. Discard bay leaf, rind, and cinnamon stick. Stir in remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Yum!