Roasting mellows and sweetens the pungent flavor of raw garlic. Roasted garlic is useful for enhancing salad dressings, sauces, soups, and stews, and it can be used as a spread on bread all by itself.
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Step 2
Remove the outer papery skin of each head of garlic, but keep the cloves connected. Cut off the top, about 1/2 inch of the stem end, so that the tips of the topmost cloves are cut flat across. Place the heads of garlic in an oiled baking dish and cover with foil.
Step 3
Bake until the cloves are soft to the touch, about 40 minutes. Cool.
Step 4
To use: With gentle pressure from the bottom, the root end, squeeze the softened garlic cloves out of the husks. You can squeeze the roasted garlic out of the whole head or out of separated individual cloves.
Step 5
Roasted garlic will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.
Serving ideas
Step 6
Serve warm bread with a small dish of olive oil for dipping and a head of roasted garlic for squeezing. Make Roasted Garlic Butter (page 236). Use in cooking when you want a mellow garlic flavor.
