02Aug

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • 1½ ounces fatty prosciutto ham, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon butter, cut into bits
  • Coarse salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Dried thyme
  • Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Recipe

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To prepare the garlic for roasting, carefully cut away the outside paper skins of each head with a small knife, starting from the top and stopping halfway down, leaving just a thin skin around the upper portion of each clove so that it will not dry out during roasting.
  2. Place the garlic heads in a buttered shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them snugly in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chips of butter; place in the oven to roast. When the heads are lightly colored, after about 20 minutes, add ½ cup hot water. Continue to roast the garlic for a total of 1 to 1½ hours, depending upon the size of the heads, basting with the cooking juices in the pan every 10 minutes and adding more hot water whenever necessary.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the heads of garlic in a saucepan filled with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil; drain and rinse under cold running water. Return to the saucepan with fresh cold water to cover and repeat; drain. Using a sharp paring knife, peel the skins back from top to bottom, leaving a single layer of papery skin on each clove as protection against the oven heat.
  4. Scatter the ham on the bottom of a lightly buttered shallow baking pan just large enough to hold the garlic heads snugly. Arrange the garlic heads, root side down, in a single layer on top of the ham. Dot with the butter and season lightly with a pinch each of coarse salt, pepper, thyme, and sugar. Sprinkle the parsley on top.
  5. Set in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Add ½ cup hot water and continue to roast the garlic for a total of 1 to 1½ hours, depending upon the size of the heads, basting with the cooking juices in the pan every 10 minutes and adding more hot water whenever necessary. Serve with the bits of ham and the pan juices.