1 Whole head of garlic
1 Toasted round French bread
1 Sweet butter; softened
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the papery outer covering of
whole garlic head, but do not separate the cloves or peel them.
Place as many whole heads of garlic on a large square of heavy-duty
aluminum foil as there are people to be served. Fold up foil so
that the cloves are completely wrapped. Bake in the preheated oven
for 1 hour 15 minutes. Serve each diner a head of garlic and some
bread and butter. Separate cloves. Hold a clove over a piece of
buttered bread and squeeze. The garlic puree will pop out, like
toothpaste from a tube. Spread and eat.
Garlic puree:
To make a batch of Garlic Puree for later use, let roasted heads of
garlic cool, unwarapped for at least 5 minutes. Gently separate the
cloves and squeeze each one over a fine meshed sieve, so that the
softened garlic pops into the sieve. With wooden spatula or wooden
spoon, rub garlic through the sieve into a small container or bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the puree if needed.
Quick puree:
If you are in a hurry, you may skip the refinement of the sieve.
Simply squeeze the cloves, one by one, over a bowl. When they have
all been squeezed, use a rubber spatula to push the puree into a
neat mound cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until
needed. It will keep for months. To keep indefinitely, cover with
a film of olive oil.
