Roasted Garlic Basil Paste Recipes

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.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan saute the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until soft and lightly golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, salt, balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, crushed red pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil, and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you place them in the pan, and their juices. Stir to combine well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the roasted garlic cloves and stir to combine. Continue to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes longer, or until the flavors have come together.
• Serve over pasta of choice.

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.

Steps:

• Slice the root end off the garlic and brush with some olive oil Roast garlic, wrapped in foil at 375 for about half an hour. It should be extremely soft and golden brown. Squeeze all the garlic from the cooled head to add to the recipe. (You can also just peel garlic and slowly saute in olive oil until golden.)
• OPTIONAL STEP--- Have ready a bowl of ice water. In a saucepan of boiling salted water blanch basil, a handful at a time, 2 seconds, transferring with a slotted spoon to bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain basil in a sieve and pat dry. This prolongs the life of the pesto sauce and makes it better for freezing.
• In a food processor or with an immersion blender, purée basil with remaining ingredients until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Makes about a cup and a half -- .

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.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a serrated knife, slice off top quarter of garlic heads, exposing as many cloves as possible. Arrange garlic heads, cut side up, in an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish (make sure garlic heads sit flat).
• Season garlic with salt and pepper and sprinkle with thyme. Slowly pour oil over each head, letting it soak into and around cloves. Cover dish tightly with foil and roast until cloves are golden, completely soft, and begin to protrude slightly from skins, about 1 hour. Let stand until cool enough to handle.
• From the bottom up, squeeze each head to push out cloves (peel skins from any completely enclosed cloves). Transfer garlic and cooking oil to an airtight container. (Garlic will keep, refrigerated, up to 2 weeks.)