Roasted Garlic Spread Recipe
Recipe for Your Health
Garlic is renowned not only for its strong flavor, but also its strong healing properties. Allium sativum has been used as an antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic agent since antiquity. Chicken soup with garlic is still one of the best medicines for a cold. Though the health benefits of eating garlic are somewhat diminished by cooking, clinical studies show that cooked garlic still retains many of the medicinal properties that are abundant in crushed, raw garlic. Roasted garlic spread is delicious and easy to prepare, and it can be used in other recipes.
For this healthy recipe, you will need two bulbs of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, aluminum foil, and any size of baking dish. Roasted garlic keeps well in the fridge, and can be frozen too.
(1) Cut off the woody part from the bottom of the two garlic cloves, and peel and separate the cloves. Place the peeled garlic cloves in the center of a square of foil.
(2) Fold up the sides and corners of the foil to make a bowl. Add about 1 tsp of olive oil to the bowl, or for an Asian twist, add 1/2 tsp of light sesame oil. Add one or two dashes of salt and pepper according to your taste.
(3) Fold the foil to make a sealed bag with the garlic cloves inside, but be sure to leave plenty of room for the cloves to move freely. Shake the bag so that all of the raw garlic cloves are coated with oil. Using a toothpick, poke one or two holes in the foil to let out steam.
(4) Place the bag on a cookie sheet or baking pan, and cook it in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. The less time you cook it, the more raw garlic flavor and health benefits you'll get.
(5) Once the garlic cloves are cooked, put them in a bowl and use a fork to smash them to the desired consistency. The oil makes them slippery, so be careful.
Use the roasted garlic spread to make garlic toast, or as an ingredient in classic Italian foods, such as pesto or bruschetta. Store the garlic spread in a clean container in the fridge. If you add more salt, it will keep longer.
© Had2Know 2010