How to roast garlic, and a recipe for roasted garlic hummus

by inspiredrd on September 21, 2011

Did you know that when you roast a bulb of strong and pungent garlic, it becomes soft and sweet and oh so amazing?

Roasting garlic is one of the simplest things you can do in the kitchen.  Even for you non-cooks out there, you can do this.  It’s so easy.  Choose a bulb of garlic that has a flat bottom.

Slice off the very bottom of the garlic so that the cloves are peeking through.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Wrap it up in foil and throw into the oven at 350.  Or 325.  Or 400.  It really doesn’t matter.  If you are baking a main dish, just throw it right in there with it.  Bake for 30-45 minutes until the cloves are nice and soft.

This is what the garlic will look like when it’s finished.  Let the bulb cool until you can comfortably touch it.

Pop the garlic cloves out with your fingers. They should come out very easily.  At this point, you can use the roasted garlic for any number of things.

-Make real garlic bread by spreading the garlic and some olive oil onto bread and popping it under the broiler for a few minutes.

-Toss roasted garlic into a pasta dish for a new level of flavor.

-Smash it up and throw it into a bowl of mashed potatoes.

-Take a couple cloves and make roasted garlic salad dressing.

-Toss it around with roasted vegetables or ratatouille.

Or you could make some roasted garlic hummus like I did…

Roasted Garlic Hummus
 

Ingredients
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 3 Tbsp. tahini
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 bulb roasted garlic
  • juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp. sea salt
  • Sriracha sauce (optional)
  • Blend all ingredients to food processor until smooth. Serve with raw vegetables or pita bread. Garnish with Sriracha sauce if desired. I plated my hummus twice, once without the Sriracha (for the kids) and once with a Sriracha heart (for the grinning guy below).

Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients to food processor until smooth. Serve with raw vegetables or pita bread. Garnish with Sriracha sauce if desired. I plated my hummus twice, once without the Sriracha (for the kids) and once with a Sriracha heart (for the grinning guy below).

 

Don’t forget to check out the Recipe ReDux roundup below for more condiments, spreads, and salad dressings in this month’s theme “Dressing for Success”.

 

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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

ash September 21, 2011 at 5:26 am

Sounds sooo good!!

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Deanna Segrave-Daly September 21, 2011 at 8:36 am

I love that you gave a tutorial on roasted garlic because it simply is so divine (and so different from sauteed garlic – equally good in my humble opinion.) Adore the red heart add-on in the photos – just perfect! Love that you are a part of Recipe ReDux!

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Elizabeth Jarrard September 21, 2011 at 10:39 am

i just adore roasted garlic. i could eat almost a whole clove! (then i would probably have no friends…)
thanks for sharing this delicious recipe! (love the photos- especically the hubby shot!

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Kristen @ swanky dietitian September 21, 2011 at 12:50 pm

This looks great! I love love roasted garlic! It gives it the most amazing flavor.

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Kat September 21, 2011 at 5:34 pm

Garlic hummus is a favorite of mine, but I never though to roast garlic myself & make the hummus. Thanks for the nudge!

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EA-The Spicy RD September 21, 2011 at 5:46 pm

Mmm…I love roasted garlic, but I always forget to make it. Thanks for the reminder! Your hummus sounds wonderful and I love the photo with the heart. It looks like your guy did too :-)

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Jesse @ Happy Go Lucky Vegan September 22, 2011 at 12:36 pm

I love hummus – and appreciate the tips on how to properly roast garlic. I can’t wait to try!

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Regan @ The Professional Palate September 23, 2011 at 6:50 am

I could eat roasted garlic schmeer’d like butter ;-)

I’ve found you can even freeze whole roasted cloves. Works great to pull out of the freezer, let thaw about an hour and then squeeze. The roasting of multiple heads of garlic makes the whole house smell amazing!

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Kati @ Around the Plate September 23, 2011 at 1:30 pm

Wow! I think your pictures just keep getting better and better! And I love hummus! Yum! Thanks for sharing. :)

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Shannon October 15, 2011 at 2:26 pm

I will be trying the roasted garlic hummus soon. We love roasted garlic, I have a 6 cup muffin pan that we roasted garlic in, 6 heads at a time.

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Bethany February 24, 2012 at 6:48 pm

Thank you for the insight on how to properly roast garlic! Very helpful and it turned out divine! I also used your hummus recipe…very tasty! My boyfriend ate it up!

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