Garlic Bread Anchovy Toast

It’s both, garlic bread AND anchovy toast. Crispy butter fried sourdough bread (also olive oil fried bread) are just superior and there’s no substitute. Toasting bread in a pan rather than a toaster just gives you that golden crisp that you can’t replace.

The beautiful thing about anchovy toast is that it can be breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner. Legend has it that if you eat a few it counts as dinner. There is no “best” time for anchovy toast. It’s all the time.

Combine that golden crunch with garlic butter and salty anchovies, can you imagine it yet?

Here’s the pitch. Make garlic butter. Smear garlic butter on bread. Toast the bread smothered in garlic butter on a pan over medium-low heat on both sides. Add 2-3 anchovies. Add finely chopped chives or spring onion. Zest a lemon over the toast. Grate pecorino overtop, too. Dig in, enjoy your life.

If you are thinking of making this garlic bread anchovy toast, you may be considering a couple of things. One being, white or brown anchovies? That is a fair question to ask and I will explain the difference between the two. Another question you may have is whether you should use salted or unsalted butter. Read on below as I go into further detail on the difference between white and brown anchovies, as well as the reason behind choosing salted butter.

If you love anchovies, you may already know the difference between the two types of anchovies - white and brown. You may not know exactly why they are different coloured but at the very least you would know how they taste compared to one another.

• White anchovies are more fresh, less salty, more fleshy because they have been cured for less amount of time. White anchovies are better for snacking when the snacks are fresh, rather than cooked, for example, on toast or salads. White anchovies would go great as a pizza topping after the pizza has been cooked through, keeping them fresh and light.

• Brown anchovies are saltier, more pungent and have developed a level of umami all from a longer amount of time being cured. Brown anchovies will dissolve in hot oil, which makes them a flavour bomb while cooking. They are preferred over white anchovies when making a dressing, such as Caesar dressing, or a pasta sauce. Brown anchovies are delicious on pizza and they can also be used for anchovy toast, or similar types of dishes.

• At the end of the day, even though there are some differentiating qualities to white and brown anchovies, such as the way they are used in different dishes, the choice is up to you. I love brown anchovies way more than white anchovies therefor I will always choose brown anchovies for any cooking purpose. If you had to buy just one type, I would buy brown anchovies first because they are more versatile. You can use them in a salad dressing, on toast, on pizza, dissolve in hot oil, etc. Though, if you prefer a less developed salty flavour, try white anchovies first. Add them to toast and salads.

• The quality of anchovies, both white and brown, is loud and clear. Brown anchovies, if bought low-quality, are tougher and drier. Those are good for dissolving in oil but I wouldn’t suggest snacking on them. If you’re buying anchovies simply for cooking, it doesn’t matter the quality or brand you buy. High-quality brown anchovies are succulent and super soft. When you bite into it, the texture is similar to butter on bread, specifically when there is enough butter to see teeth-marks on the butter. Add a high-quality anchovy to that and that’s a one way ticket to my favourite snack.

Then there is the discussion of whether to use salted or unsalted butter. Good question!

• Unsalted butter is just butter. No salt added. If you use unsalted butter, you can control the amount of salt you add into a dish. This type of butter is good for baking or anytime you want to be able to control how salty something is.

• Salted butter is butter with salt added to it. This type of butter is great for toast, sandwiches, grilled vegetables, garlic bread, etc. If you use salted butter, add less salt.

• I always buy salted butter, unless it will be for baking. Salted butter just lives in my fridge at all times, for a bread and butter snack, fried eggs, pasta, rice, etc. I use salted butter in this garlic bread anchovy toast recipe.

• At the end of the day, both would work in this garlic bread anchovy toast recipe. If you use unsalted butter, just add a bit more salt. If you use salted butter, don’t add very much salt. I would urge you to start buying salted butter from now on and keeping it in your fridge. Salted, french, cultured butter is the absolute best.

Even though I have the recipe listed below, I urge you to try anchovy toast with different combinations of toppings. While coming up with this garlic bread anchovy toast recipe, I thought of dijon mustard and horseradish as very likely components of a good anchovy toast time. Toasted bread with a good smear of horseradish cream, or dijon mustard, combined with that salty briny hit of anchovies, a dream! Also, I thought a lemon-y whipped feta or goats cheese would be so delicious as a pillow for the anchovies to lay on. A creamy, crunchy and salty bite. Everytime. Damn, I want more!

Garlic bread anchovy toast:

Serves two slices of toast

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of fresh sourdough bread

• 1 tbsp butter, salted

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• finely chopped chives (I only had spring onion but chives would be phenomenal in this!)

• lemon zest

• freshly grated pecorino

• high quality anchovies, white or brown, 2-3 per toast

  • white anchovies have more of a fresh and clean salty taste

  • brown anchovies have a deeper saltier flavour with a more pronounced umami taste

Method:

Slice sourdough bread.

In a small bowl, combine room-temperature butter with grated garlic and mix into a garlic butter.

Smear garlic butter on both sides of toast.

In a pre-heated pan over medium-low heat, toast the bread on both sides until golden brown. I like to use a burger press or a weight to really get that evenly toasted surface.

Remove from the pan. Add anchovies, chives, lemon zest, grated pecorino and flakey salt.

If you make this, let me know how it turns out! I would really love to hear from you and see a photo of your garlic bread anchovy toast.

I made this for lunch but I could also see it go with a glass of wine. Did you know I’m almost 3 months out from drinking? Two more weeks and I cannot WAIT for a glass of red. There is a really amazing local wine maker near me who makes the most beautiful, juicy, delicious natural wine. That’s all I want. A glass of a juicy, young, chilled red and garlic bread anchovy toast. Cheers to that.