Confession: I was in my early 20s before I knew what garlic was. I don't think my family ever cooked with garlic, unless it was garlic powder. We did, however, eat a fair amount of garlic bread. And you know how garlic bread has little bits of parsley on it?
I thought that was garlic. For years I thought that was garlic. I mean, it was called garlic bread, right? Not parsley bread! So I figured garlic was some kind of green herb.
Once I started cooking for myself and making recipes I found elsewhere, I discovered that garlic was not an herb at all. And I also discovered that I loved garlic. Loved it! And when it's roasted, it's like WHOA. The flavor mellows out and it becomes almost buttery. If you don't make roasted garlic, you should. Because: WHOA.
Here's how to roast garlic:
Start by peeling the papery outer layers from a large head of garlic. You should be able to see the individual cloves, but leave the skin on those.
Now cut the top off. You'll want each clove to be exposed, so how much you cut off depends on the size of the garlic head. Usually it's about ¼-1/2 inch.
Place the garlic head in a ramekin and drizzle it with oil.
Then season the garlic with salt and pepper. I like a lot of pepper on mine.
Cover the ramekin with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. This also depends on the size of the garlic head--larger cloves of garlic will take longer to roast.
The garlic is done when it can be easily pierced with a fork and the cloves are golden brown.
(PS: Your kitchen will smell amazing.)
Squeeze the individual garlic cloves out of the peel. Some cloves might need a little help; use a paring knife to cut the skin off of those.
Roasted garlic can be used in many different, delicious ways. Mashed potatoes! Pasta! Tossed with veggies! But my favorite way to use it is on bread. It makes a mean garlic bread (real, actual garlic bread!) and it's also a fantastic sandwich spread, like in the Roasted Garlic Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipe below.
Ingredients
- 1 medium head garlic roasted according to instructions above
- salt + freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- about 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 4 slices crusty bread
- 2 slices or ½ cup shredded cheese just about any cheese will work!
Instructions
- Preheat panini press to high heat or a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.
- Mash roasted garlic cloves with the back of a fork. Season with salt and a liberal amount of black pepper, to taste.
- Butter one side of two slices bread. Place on panini press or griddle. Top each with ¼ cup of cheese. Spread bottom of remaining bread slices with roasted garlic; press onto cheese. Butter the top of each sandwich. Heat about 5 minutes on panini press, until browned. If using a skillet or griddle, heat about 3-4 minutes on each side.
Robin says
I'm Italian, so I grew up with garlic in everything. And large amounts of it at that.
I am TOTALLY making that sandwich today for lunch, too. Yummmmm!
Kiersten says
I put tons of garlic in everything now too. I think we go through a head or two a week!
Maryann says
I like roasted garlic but never remember to do it.
Cassie | Bake Your Day says
Oh goodness, I grew up on garlic. And on grilled cheese. And now I'm craving one, especially with roasted garlic. This is my kind of sandwich!
Kiersten says
I am totally on a grilled cheese kick lately. I grew up on it too! 🙂
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
There is NOTHING like the smell of garlic wafting through the house and that stuff squeezes out like buttah! YUM!
Kiersten says
Garlic is definitely one of my favorite kitchen smells. Right up there with brownies baking. 🙂
EA-The Spicy RD says
Either that's one tiny ramekin, or one large garlic bulb :-). Great tutorial for garlic roasting, and love your childhood memory! I made a roasted tomato soup last night where I roasted the garlic along with tomatoes and onions and it was amazing....just like your garlic roasted grilled cheese looks. Pure comfort food!
Kiersten says
It's a large bulb! 😀 That's the only size they sell at our supermarket. Well, they do have an even bigger size, but it's $4 for a single head! I love roasted tomato soup. I make a tomato sauce the same way!
Carolyn says
I love love love roasted garlic. What a great sandwich.
[email protected] eco friendly homemaking says
Oh there is just nothing like roasted garlic. It is so delicious and becomes sweeter as it's roasted! We use it on all sorts of veggies.
Kiersten says
It does! The flavor is completely different from when it's fresh. Although I love fresh garlic too. 🙂
Jad @ New South says
Make some roasted garlic aioli with this! So good! Great tutorial by the way.
Sheri says
I had no idea how to do that, and it looks amazing!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
this looks great! I want this for lunch
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
Oh dear... really? Well, I'm glad you know about it now! 🙂 Love the idea of putting it on grilled cheese! Brilliant!
Kiersten says
Yeah, file this under "things you should admit to no one," right? 🙂
Jackie @ The Beeroness says
I had the exact same experience with garlic. The first time I tried to make a recipe that called for "three cloves of garlic" I realized that I didn't know the difference between a clove and a head. Now, I pretty much put it in everything. And can someone please make a roasted garlic candle?
Kiersten says
A roasted garlic candle would be miles better than those cloying chocolate chip cookie ones. This needs to happen!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Ok, I'm gonna do it. But tell me how to store it once it's roasted!
Kiersten says
If you're going to use it within a day or so, you can wrap it up in foil and store it in the fridge like that. Otherwise, put the cloves in a container and cover them with olive oil.
Rachel @ Bakerita says
Whenever I have roasted garlic on hand (which is usually, because it's so darn good!) I always add it to my grilled cheese sandwiches! Sometimes a slice of tomato makes it in, sometimes some basil, but anyway I make it...it's so good! Makes everything 100 times better. Yum! Looks delicious.
HilLesha says
I love garlic!
Dara says
Love this! I am obsessed with roasted garlic.
Meg @ Beard and Bonnet says
I love roasting garlic! The smell itself is heavenly.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Love the twist in this classic grilled cheese recipe. Roasted garlic is so yum!!
Jeanette says
My kids love roasted garlic!! I can only imagine it in a grilled cheese sandwich.
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
The smell of roasting garlic in the oven is like nothing else, so good!
Sara @my less serious life says
just wanted to pop in and say i just stumbled on your blog via a pinterest link (baked fried rice, to be exact) and so glad i did. it is beautiful and the recipes are exactly what i am looking for. will be back!
Kiersten says
I'm glad you found my blog--thank you for stopping by! 😀
[email protected] says
Love the intro--I believe I was in MY twenties before I realized not everything was cooked with garlic. HA!
Kiersten says
...and I learned that not everything needed to be cooked with a can of soup and a tub of sour cream. 😉
Parsley Sage says
Yeeeeees! Fortunately, I've always been a best friend to garlic but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate when someone shows me another quick way to make this into one of the BEST TASTING things ever! I like your style of using a ramakin. Tooootally doing this 🙂
Kiersten says
Yeah, so many other recipes call for making a big batch of garlic in a baking dish, but I usually only do one head at a time, which is how I started roasting it in a ramekin. It works! 🙂
[email protected]'s Recipes says
Love roasted garlic and with cheese sounds even better!
Ashley - Baker by Nature says
Roasted garlic is one of my greatest pleasures in life!!! Now I'm craving some...