Roasted Garlic

A MUST have in my refrigerator…oven roasted garlic. Deep carmel in color, rich, soft and spreadable, they are amazing flavor bombs to add to any dish.

Start with solid tight heads of garlic. Bright white skins with purple veins are the best, they tend to be younger.. Pick out some nice big ones! Preheat the oven to 375 degrees convection or 400 fan. You will need a serrated knife, aluminum foil and a glass or ceramic dish. You certainly may use a sheet tray…be mindful it does not conduct uneven heat to the bottom of the bundle.

Slice off the top of the garlic bulbs to expose the cloves. Set the bulbs onto a piece of aluminum foil large enough that it will hold all bulbs and have enough overhang to seal completely. Conversely, if you are preparing a tray of oven roastd veggies wrap one bulb individually and nestle the package into the corner. Drizzle each exposed clove with olive oil. 1 teaspoon for a bulb is not enough…1 tablespoon is too much, it depends on the size of the bulb. Basically, the oil needs to pool into the crevaces. Seal the foil package and place on the baking vessel of your choice. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes. Take a peak in the package, is it a nice deep rich carmel color? Not blond, do be afraid to reach for the color…there is flavor in the brown!

Cool garlic to room temp.

Flavor bombs!!

Once the garlic is cool enough to handle without expletives, use a paring knife to gently encourage each roasted globe of goodness out of the skin and into the sealable jar of your choice. You may also grab the root end of the bulb and squeeze the roasted cloves out of the skins. The garlic will keep in the frig for 4-6 weeks. The roasted cloves are fine to store as is; however, if you’d like to amp it up a notch, top off with olive oil to create an infusion for other uses. Bring to room temp prior to extracting cloves as they will chill into a solid mass.

If you like the hands on approach…

Squish