To oven roast garlic is as easy as 1-2-3! A few steps and a little time yields wonderfully mild and creamy garlic cloves fit for crusty bread.
Garlic is probably the one thing I use most in my kitchen besides salt. I can image only a few savory dishes that would not benefit from a little dab of garlic. I use it in almost every form. Powdered, fresh, freeze-dried. But roasted garlic is something special. I don’t use daily, but when I do use it, it adds magic. My roasted garlic preserved lemon hummus is a testament to that fact. Without it, it would be good hummus. But with it, it’s simply divine.
Tools-
To prepare you only need a knife, cutting board, aluminum foil, good olive oil, and as many heads of garlic you’d like.
Steps-
First, you will cut off the tops. You want to make sure that you are cutting down far enough to remove most of the tops but not too far down that you lose too much of the cloves. Next, you will remove as much of the outer paper as possible without breaking the head apart. It should stay intact as pictured above.
You will need really good olive oil. You can use whatever you have but the best olive oil I have tasted is the California Olive Ranch brand. It doesn’t have that bitter almost rancid aftertaste of many other brands. I will pay whatever they charge for it because the other stuff is just…yeah. So, no disrespect intended. I just feel strongly about good ingredients and this is truly one of them. (And I have not affiliation with them whatsoever. I’m just a super fan, lol.)
Next, you will cut a sheet of foil large enough to enclose around the garlic heads. Make sure that they are not layered or stacked. They can touch but they need to be sat flat with the cut side up. Pour a generous amount of olive oil over them to coat. The tops should be covered. Then wrap the foil around them in either a gathered top or pouch fashion. Just be sure that there are no holes or oil seepage.
Then roast away, baby. Put into a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 35-45 minutes. You may want to check for doneness at the 35-minute mark by inserting a toothpick or fork into the center. If it’s really soft with zero force needed, then it’s done. If not, recover and continue.
Once done, allow them to cool enough to squeeze the cloves from the papers. I generally make what I need for whatever recipe I’m making and a little extra to store in olive oil in the fridge. I have kept it in the fridge for as long as a month. It solidifies in the fridge so to use it, I mainly scoop out a few cloves with the semi-solid olive oil and use it that way. Rarely have I allowed it to fully melt but you could do that as well to get just the cloves.
Ways to use oven roasted garlic-
It makes amazing garlic bread spread.
Add it to hummus.
Whip it in mashed potatoes.
Put it under the skin of a whole chicken/turkey.