Olive Oil-Roasted Whole Garlic
Once you see how simple and quick this is, you won’t know how you lived without it.
One of my first jobs in the kitchen was working for a higher-end restaurant that served Italian as well as some South American dishes. I loved it because we made everything from scratch. I remember the prep cooks filling hotel pans with whole heads of garlic and fresh rosemary sprigs, pouring olive oil, filling the pans (gallons!) going into the oven to roast. Out would emerge this unctuous aroma filling the kitchen. The roasted oil went into pretty bottles to be used on the tables with bread service. The soft and golden garlic cloves into pans on the line, to be added to wood-fired pizzas, pasta dishes and dressings.
Today I just like having the roasted garlic on hand when I want that garlic flavor in a more subtle way. if you have your oven on anyway, just pop a couple in and see what results. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
