Sourdough with Olive Oil & Garlic

Ingredients

• 1 smallloaf good sourdough
• 2 clovesgarlic, halved
• 1/4 cupextra-virgin olive oil the best you have
• to finishflaky salt and black pepper

Method

1. 01

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C), or fire up a grill or grill pan.

2. 02

   Cut the sourdough into thick, generous slices, an inch or so each. Thin slices burn before the inside warms; thick slices toast in stages, with a crisp shell and a still-soft crumb.

3. 03

   Lay the slices directly on the oven rack or grill. Toast until the surface is dark gold and the edges have caught a little color, three to four minutes per side.

4. 04

   Pull the toast out while it's still warm — this is the only window the rub works in. Rub each slice firmly with the cut side of a garlic clove. The toasted surface acts like a microplane: it shreds the garlic into the bread on contact. Cold toast won't do this; the bread has to be hot.

5. 05

   Lay the slices on a serving board. Drizzle generously with olive oil — slow ribbons across the rough surface, not a single pool.

6. 06

   Finish with flaky salt and several turns of black pepper.