One of my all-time favorite ways to season dishes is with garlic roasted in olive oil. The result is a garlicky paste that has many uses.

Ingredients:

Garlic
Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

This is a very simple process. Preheat the oven to 400°.

Leaving the root end of the garlic bulb in-tact, cut 1/4 to 1/3 off the other end. If you have any loose skin hanging off, remove it too.

Pour some extra virgin olive oil in a small baking dish. I’ll typically try to eyeball a depth of about 1/16″. Try to use a baking dish that’s barely big enough to accommodate your garlic, so the olive oil has nowhere to run.

Drizzle some more olive oil over the top. Enough to thinly coat each bulb.

Cover the baking dish tightly with foil, and put it in the oven. We all know that “cooking times may vary”, but that rule seems to apply more to roasted garlic than anything else. I’ve seen it take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Check it after 30 minutes, then periodically if it’s not done yet. You’re testing for a moderately squishy feel.

Once it’s done, remove it from the oven and let it set until it’s cool enough to touch.

From there, the possibilities are endless…

Plunk ‘em on a plate and let your guests squeeze it onto bread to create their own garlic bread.

Mash it up with a mortal and pestle and add to your favorite dish.

Come up with a new idea and tell me all about it in the comments below!