Roasted Garlic

“Spinach makes it Florentine, garlic makes it good,” was the adage I grew up with, and it’s true.

A little garlic goes a long way to perking almost anything up, and does anything smell better than a little diced garlic sizzling away in butter – a delectable odor synonymous with promising beginnings of good meals?

Possibly.

Roasted garlic smells almost as good. This method of caramelizing the garlic cloves takes away the bite of garlic, softens out the flavor, and makes the garlic flavor subtler and less dominant. It is a perfect addition to roasted vegetables, potatoes, hummus, salad dressing, garlic butter, and is a key ingredient in a number of poultry (see Chicken Za’atar) and pork dishes. Smear it on a baguette and dunk it in olive oil as a simple but satisfying starter. It teams up beautifully with citrus, rosemary, thyme, sage, olive oil, pepper, and cream.

Ingredients

Whole heads of garlic
50 ml (3 Tbl) olive oil

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 F (220 C or Gas Mark 7).
Slice off the tops of the heads of garlic so that the cloves are revealed.
Brush the exposed area of the garlic with olive oil.
wrap the head(s) of garlic in tin foil and roast for 45 minutes. Let cool until it is comfortable to handle the garlic.
Squeeze the garlic cloves into a non-reactive dish.

Note

A quick and easy way to add flavor to almost anything.

Serve, and enjoy! And tell us what you’ve used your roasted garlic for!