Roasted garlic is always a *huge* hit at our shabbos table. Returning guests always request it. It is simply delicious spread on challah. Everyone always wants to know how to make it. It's embarrassingly simple. Yet when I explain how to make it, people's eyes seem to gloss over...I don't think anyone ever tries to make it at home. Perhaps seeing the easy recipe here will help.
There are two ways to make it. Each is VERY easy.
All you need, for each method is:
* Garlic
* Olive Oil
* Salt & pepper
Method 1 - The Classic Method
Cut the tip off a head of garlic - about 1/4 of an inch down - to just reveal the top of the cloves. Place the head(s) in an oven proof baking dish. Coat with oil (put plenty in - the oil develops a delicious flavor too) dust with salt and pepper and roast at 350 or 375 (whatever you oven happens to be at while you're cooking your other shabbos food) for about 30-45 minutes till the top of head is golden brown. Check it when you start to smell the delicious aroma wafting from the oven...it usually needs just about 10 more minutes after that...
Remove from oven and allow to cool. When cool, simply squeeze the cloves out of the head into a jar or your serving dish and pour the oil over them. This gets a little messy. If you don't like the mess - see method 2.
You can serve them the cloves way. You just simply take a clove and spread it on your challah OR you can blend the cloves into a 'paste' with a mini food processor or hand blender. I love it both ways.
Method 2 - Easier, Quicker and Less Messy
At warehouse stores like Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club they sell BIG plastic jars of garlic cloves that have already been peeled. I LOVE these jars. I find that the garlic does not lose flavor, and having cloves that are already peeled does save time for all sorts of dishes.
The second method is similar to the first - you just roast the garlic for a shorter period of time.
Simply take as many cloves (the ones that have already been peeled) as you want to roast and place them in an oven proof baking dish. Cover them with oil, dust with salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden.
Serve as-is, or blend into a more spreadable paste with a mini-food processor or hand blender. Delicious either way.
Let me know if your family gets addicted too. For me, it's just not shabbos without my roasted garlic!
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