I love the drama of service a whole head of roasted garlic. It’s a little slice of flavor that keeps impressing, but pulling out the cloves can be a little messy (even) with a pickle fork) and (unless you are using an air fryer) Roasting on this soft and spreadable setting takes at least 50 minutes.
Fortunately, you can cut that time in half by peeling the garlic before roasting it. You get a slightly different flavor profile, but it’s still sweet, deep, and spreadable – all the things you would expect from roasted garlic.
Peeling the cloves allows them to cook faster and more evenly, so that the inside dwellers see as much heat as the outside dwellers. You can also change the texture and color of your roasted cloves with the amount of oil you add. More oil gives them a confit-like texture. (In fact, if you completely submerge them in oil, you make garlic confit.)
If you only use enough oil to coat the cloves, they will come out candied and chewy, with little crispy chunks around the edges. If you want more crispy pieces, just smash the garlic really hard. The frayed edges will tan pretty nicely.
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How to make lightly roasted cloves of garlic
Ingredients:
- As much garlic as you want
- olive oil
- salt
Peel your garlic how much you have. If you want to keep the cloves whole, cut a small piece from each end of each clove – the skin will slide off easily. If you want small, crispy, caramelized pieces, smash each clove with the flat side of your knife, removing the peels that way.
Place the peeled cloves in an ovenproof bowl and add the olive oil. The more oil you add, the softer and less browned they will be. Add two large pinches of salt for each clove of garlic and stir quickly to distribute it evenly. Fry the garlic in a 350-degree oven until the cloves are soft, fragrant and dark in color – about half an hour. Smash and spread on a variety of foods.
Remove any clove residue from the oil before storing it in the refrigerator (if you’ve used a lot of oil) and use extra oil that day. (Botulism thrives in an anaerobic environment like oil is, and I would hate it if you got botulism.)
