Roasting Garlic for our summer eating

Once in the spring and then once again in the fall I buy a big mesh tube of garlic heads and roast those suckers all on the same day for my quart of roasted garlic that lives in my fridge till it’s gone.  For ‘fresh’ garlic I grow Elephant Garlic and sometimes buy the already peeled garlic but you can’t beat roasted for schmeering (I swear that’s a word – I just don’t know how to spell it) on a pizza crust, or any toasted bread, or on a steak or chop or or or or or  – use your imagination!

Prepare a cookie sheet lined with heavy duty foil big enough to be able to fold it over the top and crimp the edges.

I use my really sharp serrated knife to cut the top off the garlic heads:

It’s worth pinching out all the garlic from the cut off tips – those  I put in a separate packet so they don’t burn. Drizzle it all with lots of olive oil and fold over the foil to make a closed container.

I roast it at 350 degrees for an hour and then drop the heat to 250 for about 20 min.  It’s too hot to handle for at least a half hour.

Here’s where rubber gloves come in very handy; the squeezing of the soft garlic pulp into the jar. Use a wide mouth funnel to keep the edges of the jar as clean as possible.

The cloves – now soft and yummy – squish out of the skins  – any skin that stays attached can be easily removed.

When I’m all done I have most of a quart of roasted garlic – I strain the remaining olive oil into the jar and top it with enough to make sure all the garlic is covered, pop on a lid and store it in the fridge. When you dip a spoon into it just spread the olive oil across the top or add fresh oil. BTW the oil is fabulous by itself!!