Last week while we were in Napa, Brian and I dined at one of our favorite restaurants called Bottega. (You can read all about our Napa trip by clicking here.) While we sipped a glass of Trefethen cab and waited on our entrées to arrive, our waiter brought out a loaf of hot, crusty bread and a little jarred condiment he described as “our house parmesan spread.”

We obliged and tasted a bite…Oh.My.Goodness.

After I regained consciousness and could speak again, I asked the waiter what it was made of. He disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and brought back a scrap of paper with the ingredients/instructions on it.

Gah!!!

From now on, this is my go-to appetizer. So simple. So delicious. So cool that it’s served at one of our favorite restaurants!

This recipe can be doubled, trippled etc…The important thing to remember is keep it at 10 parts parmesan cheese to 1 part garlic. The rest of the ingredients are to taste.

These measurements make about 6 oz–enough for one small mason jar.

ingredients:

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 1/2 TBS garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1 TBS basil

1/2 TBS chives

1 tsp crushed red pepper

freshly ground black pepper to taste

instructions:

Add everything to a food processor and pulse until chopped and well combined. You want the spread to have a good texture, not too smooth.

buon appetito!

-ciao for now-

lauren