How to Roast Garlic

Roasting garlic at home: It's not hard, adds great flavor to many things, and makes your kitchen smell all garlicky and wonderful. If you like garlic.

You'll need garlic (just seeing if you're paying attention) and olive oil. I'm splitting this into two different methods. The first doesn't require anything special. Just foil. Heavy duty if you have it. The second method uses a garlic roaster. More on that later.

First, slice the top off the garlic and remove some of the excess outer paper.

Method #1

Place the garlic on a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil.

Wrap the garlic up in the foil. I place this in an oven safe dish or on a sheet pan...just in case. I like the smell of roasting garlic, but not burning oil. Just my preference.

Roast at 350-400 for about 50 minutes. The garlic should be squishy and squeeze right out of the papers. Oh, and hey...the leftover oil is good too. Don't toss it.

Method #2

Normally I don't clutter my kitchen with single-purpose gadgets. I like practical. I like versatility. I like things to be adaptable. But my mother in law thought I needed this thing. I have to admit that it works well. And I like that it is reusable. And it isn't quite as one-dimensional as I thought. Onions can be roasted in it too.

The directions recommend soaking the cover in cold water for 15 minutes before using. Place the garlic on the saucer and drizzle with olive oil.
Place cover on saucer and roast at 350 for about 50 minutes--check manufacturer's instructions. Also check instructions for care. Unglazed surfaces should not be washed with soap.
Oh, yeah!
For either method, you'll know the garlic is done when it gets all squishy and can be squeezed from the paper. Add to salad dressings, vegetables, sauces, pasta, sandwiches, spread on bread like butter.