Roasted Garlic Soup

From the Vitality Food Feature ‘GLORIOUS GARLIC‘.

The following recipe comes to us courtesy of Foodland Ontario and features the locally grown harvest.

(Serves 6). This smooth soup gets lots of flavour from Ontario’s onion family. It makes a great make-ahead first course for a dinner party. Use this easy method for roasting garlic in many other recipes as well. Preparation time is 20 minutes, while the cooking time is about 1-1/2 hours.

Ingredients

• 4 heads Ontario Garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 4 Ontario Leeks, chopped
• 1 Ontario Onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or kamut or spelt flour)
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth or additional chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp dried marjoram and thyme
• 1 cup light cream, milk, or soymilk
• 4 oz. Roquefort or Stilton cheese, crumbled
• 2 Tbsp each snipped fresh chives and chopped parsley

1) Remove any loose outer layers of skin from garlic. Cut 1/4-inch thick slice across top of each head to expose cloves. Place on large piece of foil, drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; wrap completely in foil and roast in 350F oven for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. (Ed note: if you don’t want to use aluminum foil, just put the garlic heads in a glass casserole dish instead.)

2) Holding garlic at root end, squeeze out pulp into small bowl.

3) In large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add garlic, leeks and onion; cooking for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Stir in flour and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Remove from heat and gradually stir in broth and vermouth if using, marjoram and thyme. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes. Let cool slightly. Puree in batches in blender or food processor. (Soup can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day).

5) Return soup to saucepan. Stir in cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat gently, but do not boil. Transfer to heated soup tureen or warm soup bowls.

6) Meanwhile, stir together cheese, chives and parsley; sprinkle about 1 Tbsp on each serving.