I have been on a Roasted Garlic binge lately.  Roasting garlic takes an amazing spice/condiment and makes it that much better. The cloves soften to an almost butter consistency. You can actually spread the garlic on a piece of toast just like butter. See the picture below. At Costco, you can buy a bag of garlic bulbs for about five dollars.  This is the most economical way to make roasted garlic.  It is so easy and it makes your house smell very good while baking.

Roasted Chicken was on the menu the other night and I threw in some roasted garlic to bake with it.  Wow, my house smelled so good!  Then I asked my husband to pick up some really good sourdough bread on his way home from work.  We spread on some butter and squished out these soft and delectable cloves of garlic on the bread and had an amazing dinner.

When my husband and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, there was an Hungarian restaurant on the top floor of Ghiradelli Square just off Fisherman’s Wharf. They served a full roasted garlic bulb with the bread they brought to your table at the beginning of the meal. I am thinking about opening my own restaurant, Dina’s Diner, with the same tradition. It is that delicious!

How to Make Roasted Garlic

1. Cut off the flat top a bulb of garlic.  This will leave all the cloves of garlic exposed.  Use a sharp knife to get through all the layers of garlic. Make sure you curl your fingers back so you don’t cut anything important besides the garlic.

2.  Place this bulb in a 12 x 12 inch piece of tin foil.  Flatten out the tin foil and lay the bulb with the exposed cloves of garlic facing up. Pour one or two tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the garlic.

3.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  It will stick to the olive oil. When doing this step, I really think that fresh ground salt and pepper make a huge difference. If you don’t have them, making the roasted garlic is still a great idea. Use regular table salt and pepper.

4.  Bring the sides of the tin foil up around the bulb of garlic. Make sure to completely cover everything.  Twist the top to make it air tight. Several times, I have pulled the tin foil too tight and made a slit in the tin foil. Start with a new piece to make it air tight.

5.  Place in a 350° oven. Bake for one hour.  I can eat one bulb of garlic in one sitting.  So if I am going to make roasted garlic, I bake three or four at time.  They can be warmed up in the microwave.  They are delicious this way too.

There is so much you can do with roasted garlic.

6.  Take the garlic out of the oven when the timer goes off.  Peel the tin foil off.  When the garlic is cool enough to touch, grab from the bottom of the garlic bulb and push the cloves out of the top of the bulb.  The action of squishing the garlic cloves out is so satisfying! This is another gratifying part of roasted garlic.

7.  The roasted garlic will spread just like butter.  It is soft and pliable.  I like to toast a piece of bread, then butter it and then spread on the garlic.  This is dinner for me, but there is so much more you can do with these delicious little gems.  

8.  You can mix with softened butter and spread on a loaf of French bread.  Cover the garlic and butter with parmesan and mozzarella cheese and then broil in the oven.  Adding the roasted garlic on top of any chicken or steak you make, will add another layer of flavor.

Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you make this.  Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner.

Latest Posts on Dina’s Diner