How to Roast Garlic

Garlic is a superhero of the kitchen. You know the superhero, but do you know his alter ego? He happens to be mild mannered every day kind of guy.

Roasted garlic is raw garlic’s alter ego. Eaten raw, garlic is really pungent and sharp. But if you roast garlic, he changes completely. The white cloves turn to a golden brown. The sharp taste turns to a tame, almost sweet flavor. The texture goes from firm to squishy. It’s way different. You might not even recognize it. (Especially because roasted garlic wears glasses.)

Bottom line. Roasted garlic is delicious. And it isn’t hard to make!

First begin with a nice whole bulb of garlic. Well, actually, start by preheating your oven to 350.

 

Slice the top off the garlic so that the cloves are exposed.

Remove as much of the outer paper as you can, leaving the bulb still intact.

Drizzle olive oil over the cut surface of the garlic.

Sprinkle with a little kosher salt.

Wrap in aluminum foil. And toss it in the oven. Bake it for about 1 hour.

Remove and unwrap carefully. It should be golden brown. With little bits of darker brown. It will be soft and sort of squishy.

Let it cool a little bit. Until you can handle it easily.

Here comes the most fun part, getting the cloves out of the wrapper.

Just squeeze. The garlic will just pop out of the skin. It is really quite satisfying!

Here’s what you end up with. A pile of roasted garlic.

Go give it a try!

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