Roasted garlic is truly an amazing ingredient. It saved my Thanksgiving, when I used it to make a flourless gravy. I also used carmelized onions, homemade chicken broth, and fresh and dried herbs. The garlic and onions pureed up nicely in the Vitamix and thickened up the gravy, and consequently eliminating the need for flour. I also plan on adding this to salad dressings, smearing it over paleo bread, or just eating it by itself. It will also make your apartment smell amazing!
If you’re concerned about cooking with olive oil, and I usually am, Chris Kressler just had an awesome post Is It Safe to Cook with Olive Oil by his staff nutritionist Kelsey Marksteiner, RD. Since I normally use coconut oil to be on the safe side, I was relieved to hear that yes, it is safe. I’m Italian and I hate using coconut oil for Italian recipes! The flavor of olive oil is just necessary for good Italian food.
I salt bake the garlic because it makes it easy to check on how brown it is, and then I can add some fresh rosemary to the baking dish, so the aroma can flavor the head of garlic. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt that I get from Costco for salt baking food and as a dry salt rub for large pieces of meat. They recommend the same brand in the book All About Roasting by Molly Stevens, and I don’t want to tweak the recipe (yet đŸ™‚ )and potentially ruin expensive non-gmo/pasterized meat.
- 1 cup of kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 4 heads of garlic
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Add salt to a baking dish.
- Cut of tops of garlic heads and nestle in salt.
- Place two sprigs of rosemary on salt
- Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil over each head of garlic.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for an hour and five minutes at 350 degrees. After thirty minutes, check garlic every ten minutes until desired brown color.