Joybee, What's for Dinner? : How to Roast Garlic

A simple tutorial on how to roast garlic.

Re-post of original from 2/27/13 121 views updated: pics, minor editing, tweetables, and similar posts.

Roasted garlic is a must have for certain dishes. It smells and tastes fantastic. I love the smell so much I tell my husband (jokingly...mostly) I want to use it as perfume (he's all on board for that he loves the stuff too). Roasting softens the garlic, adds a sweetness, and enhances the flavor. It's a great addition to bread (such as Potato Garlic Bread), sauces, hummus, and, of course, makes the best garlic bread (I will post about garlic bread soon--I did, but now that post needs updating too). Here is my way to make roasted garlic.

Let's bottle Roasted Garlic smell as perfume [Tweet this]

Start with a whole head of garlic, or just a few cloves (my opinion is more is better, I love roasted garlic). Using a serrated knife or kitchen shears, cut off the bottoms of each clove. Some people keep the whole head of garlic intact and cut off the hard bottom piece, but I find that I end up wasting too much garlic that way.

More is better with Roasted Garlic [Tweet this]

Place the cloves of garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil (no need to peel the cloves) and drizzle or spray on some olive oil (you don't need much, about a teaspoon or less). Fold the foil around the garlic and bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes (I use a toaster oven for this, no need to heat up the big oven for a small packet of garlic).

After about 15 minutes, you will start to smell roasted garlic but keep it in the oven the whole time until it softens. (This is my favorite house freshener. I just have a small apartment and it makes the whole place smell great. I joke with my husband that I'm going to rub some roasted garlic behind my ears like perfume...I love this stuff and my husband does too.) Remove from oven, or turn the heat off, and let cool until it is able to be handled. Then open the foil packet.

Roasting garlic makes the whole house smell great. [Tweet this]

The garlic should be soft and slip out of the papery peel with just a squeeze on the top of the clove. The soft garlic can be easily mashed once it is out of the peel and is ready to be added to any recipe.