A Roasted Garlic Menu
This week's menu involves one
of my favorite things, Garlic. Don't let it scare you, it will be roasted in
every recipe even the dessert. Yes, I said dessert. You see roasting mellows
out the flavor of garlic and makes it addictive. This menu has an Italian theme
and is easy to prepare. I'm going to leave out the pizza crust recipe. You really
need a pizza stone for it, and I don't know what percentage of the foodie population
has one. Just buy the Boboli crusts at the grocery store or something similar.
This menu serves 6
Caesar Salad with Roasted
Garlic Dressing
Garlic Pizza
Brie with Strawberries, Chocolate,
and Garlic
Caesar Salad with Roasted
Garlic Dressing:
2 large heads garlic
1/4 cup dry vermouth
3-1/2 tablespoons plus 1/3
cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Rosemary
3 cups 1-inch French bread
cubes
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot pepper sauce
1 head curly endive, trimmed
1 large head romaine lettuce,
torn into pieces
1-1/4 cups grated Parmesan
cheese (about 5 ozs.)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Peel off papery outer skin from whole garlic, keeping heads intact. Place in
small casserole dish. Pour vermouth over. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over garlic.
Season with pepper. Cover; bake until garlic is very soft, about 1-1/2 hours.
Cool. Increase oven to 350 degrees. Mix 2-1/2 tablespoons oil and rosemary on
baking sheet. Season with pepper. Add bread cubes and turn to coat in oil. Bake
until lightly toasted, about 15 minutes, cool.
Squeeze garlic to remove cloves
from skins. Place in small bowl and mash to form a paste. Transfer to a blender.
Add lemon juice, mustard, anchovy paste, Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper
sauce. Puree. With machine running, gradually add 1/3 cup olive oil.
Reserve outer endive leaves
for another use (or throw them away). Tear inner leaves into pieces to measure
3 cups. Put in large bowl with romaine. Pour dressing over and toss well. Sprinkle
cheese and croutons over salad and serve.
Garlic Pizza:
2 Boboli crusts (large ones)
1/2 cup garlic paste (recipe
follows)
1 cup pizza sauce (recipe follows)
6 ounces Italian Fontina cheese,
grated
4 teaspoons basil pesto (recipe
follows)
Garlic paste:
9 heads garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
Slice off the pointed ends
of the garlic heads and toss the heads of garlic in a bowl with the olive oil.
Wrap the cloves tightly in a foil envelope along with the water and bake in
a 350-degree oven for about 1 hour, until the cloves are soft enough to squirt
out of their skins. Reserve 24 cloves and mash the rest into a paste.
Pizza Sauce:
3/4 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic1/4
teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 16-ounce can peeled tomatoes,
drained and chopped
5 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
In a heavy saucepan, sauté
the onion in the olive oil over low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and
sauté for about 10 seconds. Add the herbs and sauté for another 10 seconds.
Add the tomatoes, simmer for 20 minutes and stir in the tomato paste. Simmer
for about 10 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and smooth. Season with
salt and pepper.
Basil Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts or
walnuts
4 medium cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
In a food processor, combine
all the ingredients except the cheese. Process u until smooth, stopping several
times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and
stir in the cheese.
To assemble the pizza: spread
a 1/8-inch layer of garlic paste over each crust. Then spread on a layer of
sauce, top with the grated cheese and bake in a 400-degree oven until the cheese
is melted. Garnish each pizza with the reserved garlic cloves and continue to
bake until the crust is browned. Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes
then brush with the pesto. Cut and serve.
Brie with Strawberries,
Chocolate, And Garlic:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 head garlic, cloves separated,
peeled, and cut into slivers
2 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
chopped or broken into pieces
2 8-ounce rounds ripe Brie,
at room temperature
2 pints strawberries
1 baguette, sliced thin
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Melt the butter in a small ovenproof pan or skillet. Add the garlic, shake the
pan to distribute it evenly, and sprinkle the sugar on top. Roast in the oven
until the garlic is completely tender, about 20 minutes.
Place the rounds of Brie on
a large serving platter. Heat the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over
simmering water for about 2 minutes or until nearly melted. Remove from the
heat and fold in the garlic. Pour the mixture over both rounds of cheese. Arrange
the strawberries and bread slices on the platter with the Brie and serve.
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