roasted garlic spread

All the girls want a vampire for a boyfriend these days. That’s a fact. But it’s worth reconsidering wearing the letter jacket of someone who can’t be around garlic. I mean, I think the first thing I ever learned about cooking was that you could cut up garlic and put it in anything that wasn’t a dessert and it would taste better. Garlic was hot then. It was like bacon is now. Then it got played out, also like bacon.

But Elizabeth made this roasted garlic spread the other night and it reminded me of how great garlic is. Roasted garlic is this wonderful combination of spicy, sweet, and pungent that’s just so different from everything else we eat. Spread on a piece of toast, it’s a great appetizer all by itself, and it requires very little work.

Also, you know who else liked garlic? Vikings. Vikings are the new vampires. You read it  here first.

Roasted Garlic Spread

2 heads garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few twists of pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bottom off of 2 heads of garlic. Arrange them so they are snuggled up together in a thick, folded piece of tin foil. Pour in the olive oil, salt and pepper, and then seal the foil packet at the top. Place into a small (preferably very small) oven-proof dish and set in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, until the garlic is translucent and fragrant. It’s easy to burn the garlic, so keep an eye on things. Set aside to cool. Remove the foil packet, and pour off any olive oil into the small bowl. Squeeze the cloves out of their skin into the bowl, and mash with a fork. Feel free to add some parmesan or pecorino, or a fresh herb like thyme. Check the salt levels. Serve on small toasts and garnish with herbs or cheese, as desired.