How to Roast Garlic without Foil
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Do you love garlic? When you roast garlic, it gets milder and sweeter. It makes a wonderful addition to sauces, soups, and just about anything. There are so many great things to make with excess garlic from the garden.
You can even use it as the main component in pasta to whip up a quick meatless meal for dinner.
We grow tons of garlic. We grow soft neck garlic and braid it so it lasts all year long. That way we don’t have to eat grocery store garlic at all. When it’s time to plant garlic again in the fall, we use the same braided garlic and plant this biggest clove from a few heads.
Roasting garlic
Take your head of garlic and cut about ½ inch off the top of the whole thing. Place it in a casserole dish that has a lid. Do this with the rest of the heads you have for roasting. Sprinkle all the heads generously with salt and olive oil. Place the lid on the garlic and roast it in a 350-degree oven until it’s soft and spreadable. If you don’t have a dish with a lid, cover it tightly with foil.
How long to roast garlic at 350
It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your garlic heads and how fresh they are. These were the oldest cloves from nearly a year before, so they took a little longer than fresh garlic with more moisture content. The average time is 45 minutes. When they are soft enough to squeeze out and dark in color they are ready.
It’s pretty hard to overcook roasted garlic. Just check it after 45 minutes and if it’s turned to paste, take it out, if not, leave it in a little longer. You’re going to be addicted to this maddeningly delicious treat. And it goes on almost everything.
Once the garlic is roasted, you can use it as a spread on toast or bread, mash it in mashed potatoes or use on a baked potato in place of butter. Use the roasted garlic to season a pasta dish, tomato sauce, pizza crust or rub it on some corn on the cob. Mix the roasted garlic with olive oil and use to dip bread. Add roasted garlic and salt to some sour cream and use as a dip. Use in soup, stew, hash or whatever dish you want a subtle garlic flavor in.
Roasted garlic is so versatile, you can even make an amazing roasted garlic aioli. Aioli is a flavored mayonnaise. I like to make the mayo portion homemade when I made aioli. I think it tastes better than store-bought mayo.
Roasted garlic aioli
Toss a head of roasted garlic, ½ tsp. salt, 3 egg yolks, the juice of one lemon, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard into your food processor. Give it a few pulses and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn it back on and slowly drizzle in olive oil until it’s a spreadable consistency. Check to make sure it has enough salt and add more if needed. Spread this on sandwiches, burgers, dip your fries in it, or use it for just about anything.
How do I store roasted garlic?
Roasted garlic can be frozen for several months and used as needed. Just store it in an airtight container. You can either freeze the individual cloves on a baking sheet and then put in your container or smash it all together and freeze it in ice cube trays or other small amounts and then put it in your container.
You can store the roasted garlic in your refrigerator for about three days in the skins in an airtight container or a week if you cover your roasted garlic it in oil.
Roasted garlic benefits
Garlic has a ton of health benefits and roasting it only gives it a softer flavor so it’s easier to eat more of it. Some people find raw garlic to be off-putting, so roasting it is a great alternative.
Garlic and onions contain phytochemicals that help fight off many diseases. They can strengthen your heart, reduce your risk for cancer, kill viruses, fungi and bacteria and give you vital nutrients for good health. Eating garlic and onions every day is a great way to stay healthy.
There’s so much you can do with garlic, you can even use garlic scapes from hard necked garlic to make pesto!
