Salt and Pepper Garlic Spread

Everyone knows that the addition of garlic to any recipe adds a wonderful, subtle flavor, but roasted garlic is also delicious when baked and used as a spread on crusty bread, pita bread and bruchetta. The addition of salt and pepper in this recipe makes it extra special. The flavor of roasted garlic spread is not as overwhelming as fresh garlic, and can often replace mayonnaise in many instances. The recipe below is from the excellent book Salt & Pepper by Sandra Cook, Sara Slavin and Deborah Jones.

Ingredients

4 whole heads garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 575 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel away the loose, outer, papery layers from the garlic heads. Trim off the pointy end of each head to expose the tops of the cloves (cutting off about 1/2-inch will generally be enough).
   
2. Place the garlic heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish or garlic roaster.
   
3. Drizzle them with the olive oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt and black pepper.
4. Roast the garlic heads until the cloves are golden brown and begin to push out of the bulb, about 45 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven, let cool, then squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of heads into a small bowl.
   
6. Mash with a fork, pour the oil from the baking dish into the mashed garlic, and stir together to make a paste.

Garlic spread will keep for up to one week in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. The garlic roaster shown here is available at the Gourmet Fusion store, together with other terra cotta products.