Garlic Passion

When most people think of roasting, they think of a hearty beef roast or a succulent turkey at Thanksgiving. They don’t think of a head or garlic unless they’ve tasted the luscious result from roasting a big garlic bulb.

If you didn’t know you could roast garlic or didn’t know how, I’m here to rescue you from this sad lack of knowledge.

It’s really easy. Just preheat your over to 400. You don’t have to peel it, just take off the loose papery part from a big head of garlic. From the top of the cloves, slice off about a quarter inch which exposes the cloves. Place the garlic head in a baking pan. If you’re doing a bunch of them, use one of those mini muffin pans.

Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over each head to coat. The EVOO will help caramelize the garlic and also impart more flavor to the roasted garlic.

Cover with foil and bake about a half hour. Touch the cloves. If they feel soft when you pressed them, then they’re ready. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can touch them without burning your fingers.

Here’s what you do with them. Remember that slice you removed from the top? That’s the opening for the cooked garlic to ooze from. For large cloves, pop a clove loose, lay it on its side on a plate and press with a fork. The caramelized garlic will ooze right out from its skin. If the cloves are small, you can do the whole head this way.

Eat it just like that. You’ll notice that the taste is much milder, almost sweet. Use the paste to spread over warm bread or mix it with freshly grated Parmesan and hot pasta. Oh, my, but it’s good.

Now, if you want an even easier way to roast garlic, buy a garlic baker. You can find them made from terra cotta, but the one I like best is made of natural stoneware. It’s inexpensive and an attractive accessory for your kitchen. You can find one at CyberCucina, an online store with lots of great products like some fabulous EVOO. You even get some garlic recipes and suggestions on how to use the perfectly roasted garlic produced by the baker.

I’ve got to go now. My oven timer just went off.