There are few components of the Thanksgiving meal that cannot be improved by a clove or five of roasted garlic. Though it’s not a part of the usual sage/rosemary/thyme flavor profile, there’s no way you can tell me it wouldn’t be welcome (unless you are a liar). You can mash roasted garlic into your potatoes, spread it on your rolls, and smear it on your turkey. You can chop the cloves up and add ‘em to your gravy. There are a lot of options.
But no one wants to share a head of garlic, not really. Though Thanksgiving is supposed to be about being thankful for what you have, you should allow your guest to be a little selfish, and give each and every one of them an entire roasted head of garlic for them and only them. Just count your number of guests—include children because they will want to copy the adults—then purchase that many heads of garlic, plus two more, just in case something goes wrong (one falls on the floor, a street urchin absconds with one, you are bad at math).
Remove the excess papery bits from the heads, slice about half an inch off the top of each head to reveal the cloves (save the scraps for stock), and place the garlic on a large sheet of aluminum. Drizzle them all with olive oil, and wrap them up tight. Roast the delicious package at 400℉ for at least an hour, until the cloves are soft, sticky, and golden. Place one on each plate, and watch the faces of your guests light up in sheer delight at the gift you have given them—the gift of flavor.
Written By: Claire Lower
This article was originally published on lifehacker.