Roasted Garlic Basil Paste Food

ROASTED GARLIC

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Arrange heads of garlic on a baking sheet. Sprinkle garlic with olive oil. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, when the garlic is soft and squeezable, it is ready. Remove, let cool, and serve.

ROASTED GARLIC BASIL PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub garlic heads with olive oil, and wrap with aluminum foil. Bake until garlic cloves are very tender when pierced with a knife, about 50 minutes. Allow heads to cool, then squeeze softened garlic from cloves into a bowl; there should be 1 cup.
• Using a mortar and pestle (do not use a food processor), mash basil with 1/2 teaspoon salt until it is a paste. Add roasted garlic one tablespoon at a time, and mash until fully blended. Season with lemon juice, and add more salt if desired. Spread on grilled meats or fish, or use as a sandwich spread.

FRESH BASIL PASTE

Steps:

• Rinse the basil well and pat dry. In a food processor, puree basil with garlic until coarsely chopped. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in the oil and process until finely pureed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• USES: Grill or broil some sword fish and each portion with a tablespoonful or so of basil puree. Spoon a tablespoonful or so into each portion of canned vegetable soup.

ROASTED-GARLIC PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic. Cut off the top third of each head to open the cloves. Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly, place in the oven and roast until about 3/4 cooked (about 45 minutes).
• Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown (about 15 minutes). Let cool. When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl. Press firmly against the skins to extract all the sweet roasted garlic you can. Add the oil from the baking dish, the Parmesan cheese, rosemary and a pinch of gray salt. Mix well until a paste forms. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

HOW TO ROAST GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cut the top off the garlic bulb, exposing the tops of the garlic cloves. Put on a small square of foil, and rub with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Scrunch up the foil to seal in the bulb.
• Roast for 25-30 mins until soft when pressed, and the papery casing is light golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes before squeezing the soft roasted garlic out of their shells. Alternatively, take off all the papery casing and remove the cloves individually.

ROASTED GARLIC PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Make a packet out of a piece of foil by folding it in half, then making small folds along two of the open edges.
• Add the garlic, salt and oil to the packet. Fold the open side a few times to seal.
• Bake until the garlic is very soft and golden brown. In my oven, this takes about an hour.
• Once the garlic is done, remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
• Place garlic in the food processor, and process until it is a smooth paste.
• Place in a seal-able container and store in the refrigerator.

GARLIC TOMATO BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine oil, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and toss gently. Sprinkle with cheese. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. , Bring to room temperature before serving. Cut bread into 24 slices; toast under broiler until lightly browned. Top with tomato mixture. Serve immediately.

PASTA WITH ROASTED GARLIC, CHERRY TOMATOES AND BASIL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400. Halve tomatoes and garlic cloves and toss with olive oil and balsamic (to taste - probably just a few dashes) in a baking dish.
• Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture evenly over tomatoes.
• Roast mixture for 30-40 minutes or until mixture is bubbly, browned, or slightly thickened.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.
• Add pasta to the tomato mixture and toss with fresh chopped basil.

MIDNIGHT PASTA WITH ROASTED GARLIC, OLIVE OIL AND CHILE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the top 1/4 inch of the head of garlic to expose the top of the cloves, then place on a piece of foil, cut-side up. Sprinkle exposed cloves with salt, then drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Wrap the garlic in the foil and roast until soft and golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes.
• When you're ready to make the pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Finely chop the parsley leaves. Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta.
• While the pasta cooks, in a large Dutch oven or skillet, heat the remaining 1/2 cup oil over medium heat. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the oil and cook, breaking them up with your spoon, until very fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the red-pepper flakes and a few generous grinds of pepper. Remove the pan from the heat to infuse the oil while the pasta finishes cooking.
• When the pasta's done, heat the garlic oil over medium, then add the cooked pasta, 1/2 cup reserved pasta water and the parsley, and simmer, tossing constantly and adding more pasta water as needed, until the pasta is glossed with sauce.
• Serve with more red-pepper flakes, black pepper and Parmesan.

ROASTED GARLIC PASTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Remove any loose papery skins from the outside of the garlic heads; cut off the top 1/3 of the heads to open the cloves; set aside for another use; place the heads in a small baking dish, cut sides up; pour olive oil over them and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cover the dish tightly and bake until 3/4 done, about 45 minutes; uncover and continue to bake another 15 minutes or until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown; cool.
• Squeeze the cloves out of their skins into a bowl; add the oil from the baking dish and mix well, forming a paste.
• Store, refrigerated, up to one week.