Sometimes I’m just smart about cooking. This last week was one of those times. I use quite a bit of roasted garlic, so why don’t I make puree? I frequently made roasted garlic puree on the job, why not for myself?
Part of the issue is I don’t want to turn on a great big oven for just a little bit of food. Three heads of garlic doesn’t justify using all that energy. Finally I realized that there is a toaster oven in the house that I can use for cooking the small things and thus avoid turning on the big oven.
I started out with a small batch. I don’t know how much I’m going to use, or how long it will keep. I believe it will hold for at least three months. And, even though the toaster oven is big enough to hold more than three heads of garlic, that’s all I chose to cook. In the future I will most likely roast more heads. Like all food, there was a reduction in volume once the garlic was cooked and smashed. Definitely could roast up to eight heads of garlic in this amazing little toaster oven.
I’ll probably go through this puree in less than a month. It will last several months in the refrigerator, especially if you top it with a little olive oil.
What do you use garlic puree for? Hummus, Mashed Potatoes, Basil Pesto, soup.
Here’s how to do it:
Put several whole heads of garlic on a metal tray and place in a toaster oven. Set the controls to “broil.” Cook for 15 minutes. Turn the garlic over and cook for another 10 minutes. The garlic is done when you push on the head and the clove feels squishy. The garlic gets browner the longer you cook it.- Cool the garlic down, then peel out the cloves. This is a sticky sort of mess, so make sure you have some water around to keep your fingers from getting too sticky.
- Put all the garlic in a metal bowl and mash with a fork. If doing a larger batch, you could use a potato masher, one of the silicon ones with the smaller holes.
- Store in an airtight container. If keeping for a longer time, cover with a layer of olive oil.
- Use in hummus, mashed potatoes, or anything else that would benefit from roasted garlic puree.
This really is better than the store bought versions. By making this yourself you can guarantee the source of the garlic heads (non-GMO and organic), and that there are no chemical stabilizers in the puree.
