It’s National Garlic Month! Celebrate With Oven-Roasted Garlic
We routinely roast potatoes, carrots, onions, pumpkins, peppers and a slew of other vegetables, so why not garlic? After an hour in the oven, garlic’s pungent flavor grows sweet and mellow, it becomes soft and spreadable, and the whole house smells absolutely intoxicating.
Once roasted, the cloves will easily release from their skin. Just pick up the cooked head and squeeze or use a butter knife to pop each one out. Roasted garlic can be added directly to soups, sauces and dips, spread directly on cooked meats or simply slathered over a piece of warm Italian bread — benissimo!
Oven-Roasted Garlic Recipe
When purchasing garlic for roasting, select firm, tight, heavy bulbs so that the head will stay in tact.
To prepare garlic for roasting, leave the skin on and slice the top off of each to expose each of the cloves.
For additional herb flavor, place a sprig of fresh thyme over the cut surface of the garlic before roasting.
Place garlic cut-side up in a small, ungreased baking dish and pour 1/3 cup water around the bulbs. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the garlic is very soft.
Cool for 5 minutes.
Slowly drizzle ¼ cup olive oil into the center and over each garlic head.
Spread that goodness on your bread of choice and enjoy!
Who needs butter?
Fun Garlic Facts
- The official Garlic Day is April 19.
- Garlic is classified as both a vegetable and an herb.
- Garlic’s flavor is most intense after mincing.
- The psychological term for fear of garlic is alliumphobia.
- The smell can be removed from your hands by running them under cold water while rubbing a stainless steel object.
Have you tried making oven-roasted garlic? How do you use it in your kitchen? —Karen