Roast garlic with herbs
To serve, give everyone their heads of garlic and some good olive oil, slices of toast, napkins and finger-bowls. Using fingers, guests should squeeze the individual creamy cloves of garlic like tubes of toothpaste onto their toast, drizzle with the herby oil and eat with a dab of cheese. This can also be mashed into potatoes and rubbed onto chicken before roasting. .
Ingredients
- 4 garlic heads
- 6 tbsp water
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- coarse salt
- 300g soft goat's cheese
- handful fresh herbs (e.g. basil, parsley, chives, chervil), finely chopped
- rye bread or other good bread, lightly toasted
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
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Step 2
Neaten up the heads of garlic by removing any loose pieces of papery skin. Trim the roots. With a sharp knife cut the papery skin off the top of the garlic, just exposing the very tips of the cloves.
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Step 3
Arrange the garlic heads in a fairly close fitting ovenproof dish and pour the water around them. Drizzle with olive oil over the garlic heads and tuck the rosemary and thyme around them. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
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Step 4
Uncover and bake for a further 15-30 minutes, basting occasionally with their own juices, until the garlic is tender and gives when pressed. Add a little extra water if it is drying out.
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Step 5
Beat the goat's cheese with the herbs, salt and pepper to taste and pile into a bowl for serving.
