How to Cook Roasted Garlic

Garlic is not only delicious, it has also been shown to have positive effects on your health, including lowering cholesterol levels. Garlic can be eaten in a variety of ways, one of the most popular of which is roasted. Roasted garlic is wonderful when spread on bread or used in sauces. Here's how to roast garlic.

Things You'll Need

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 heads of garlic
• Baking dish
• Oven mitts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. You will be roasting your garlic in a very hot oven, so use oven mitts and take safety precautions when cooking your garlic. (See Things You'll Need below.)

2. Purchase two large, firm heads of garlic and one small bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Garlic can be purchased at your local farmer's market or in the grocery store in the produce section.

3. Remove the outer papery covering from the heads of garlic. Cut approximately 1/4 inch off the top off each garlic head to expose the cloves. Place the heads in a small baking dish.

4. Drizzle two teaspoons of oil over each head of garlic. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and place in heated oven.

5. Roast for 45 minutes, until garlic is soft. Remove from oven.

6. Allow garlic to cool slightly. Separate the garlic heads into individual cloves. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and into a small serving dish. Mash garlic with a fork. Or squeeze garlic right on a crusty slice of good bread.

7. Serve roasted garlic with a side dish of extra virgin olive oil. Dip piping hot bread into the olive oil and then dip into the garlic. Or serve garlic with goat cheese or figs.

Tips & Warnings

• When cooked, garlic should be slightly brown and tender when pierced with a fork.

• Be careful when removing cooked garlic cloves from skins. Let cool slightly before handling.