How to Roast Garlic in 4 Easy Steps

Garlic. You either love it or hate it but there's no denying it is a main ingredient in many gourmet dishes, and many people just love the taste of garlic bread, garlic bread sticks, and even bruchetta with garlic. Additionally it has been known to have many health benefits from helping your cardiovascular system to antibiotic properties. It's no surprise that there is a big industry in garlic pills and powders for vitamin supplements.

If you are one of those people that just loves the taste of garlic then here is how to make perfect roasted garlic you can eat straight up with your fingers, or smeared on your favorite artisan bread or crackers. Additionally you can use roasted garlic in your home made sauces, on your pizza toppings or in your pasta dishes.

1. You can use a garlic roasting dish designed especially for roasting garlic, however I have found them to be limited in size if I want to roast a lot of garlic. A metal baking pan or glass baking dish will work just as good. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of your baking pan or dish. Do not overdo it or the oil will splatter in the oven, and this is dangerous.

2. Break the bulb of garlic and separate the cloves. Do your best to peel off the shallow paper like thin skin as much as possible. It is the excess skin between the cloves you are removing, but you will leave each individual clove's skin in tact.

3. Place the garlic in your baking dish or pan. You can even use muffin pans if you like if you want to roast some bulbs whole. Now drizzle a little more olive oil over the top of the laid out garlic. Take aluminum foil and tightly cover the pan or baking dish so that it retains the moisture and the garlic does not get dried out or overcooked and hard.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F (preheated oven) for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the garlic is soft when pressed with a small cocktail fork.

Now it's time to enjoy the roasted garlic! Let cool for about 2 minutes after removing from oven and if eating with your fingers, just squeeze the roasted garlic right out of their think skin. You can also use a flat knife to smear the roasted garlic on hot Italian or French bread or you can top baked potatoes or mix roasted garlic into mashed potatoes for roasted garlic potatoes. Roasted garlic is also good on toasted bagels with cream cheese. Try roasted garlic on pita bread with thinly sliced tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts and a teaspoon of Italian dressing.

Garlic is an inexpensive produce item and easy to roast and can be used so many ways in so many main dishes and snacks. Be sure not to over due it though, because some people have sensitive digestive tracts and there are some dangers associated with garlic as well, which you can read about at this link below

http://www.garlic-central.com/dangers.html

http://www.garlic-central.com/garlic-health-summary.html

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