How To Make Your Own Roasted Garlic

I know what you're thinking...

But roasting your own garlic is so much easier than you think. I was a little intimidated at first, but I got through it and so will you. As for the time involved... The prep is virtually nothing. The last step is just a couple minutes. The middle? Well, the middle is where all the good stuff happens and it does take a little time, but you don't have to do anything but wait. And that wait will be sooooo worth it.

How to Roast Garlic:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Grab a whole bulb of garlic (or a few). Take off most of the outer skins but leave enough (a thin layer) on so the cloves stay together. Cut off about a 1/4" to a 1/2" of the top of the entire bulb, keeping it intact. You want to make sure all the individual cloves are exposed, but you don't want the whole thing to fall apart.

2. Cut a piece of heavy duty foil that is big enough to surround the garlic. Put the foil in the middle of a baking sheet and place the bulbs in the middle of the foil. Drizzle about 1 - 2 tsp of olive oil over each bulb making sure to cover each clove. Sprinkle a little salt on each bulb if you'd like.

3. Pinch and fold the foil on top and around the sides to form a pouch to seal all the garlic. Make sure there are no holes or openings. (In retrospect, I should have used one of the good baking sheets for this picture. Ha!)

4. Roast in the oven for about 40 - 45 minutes or until the cloves are soft. They should look like this:

5. Let the garlic cool until you can hold it without burning yourself. Squeeze the bottom of the bulbs to 'pop' out the cloves or use a small, thin spoon to scoop them out. 

That's it! You can put the cloves in a container and keep them refrigerated for about a week or use them up right away. They're great spread on crackers with a little kosher salt or smashed and mixed with pasta.

Or you can always use them in some homemade hummus... (recipe will be posted soon!)