Garlic Supper Club: Soup
Everyone ate a lot of cheese and bread, but soon enough the soup was plated (bowled) and served.
Roasted Garlic Soup With Parmesan Cheese
Serves 4
26 garlic cloves (unpeeled) [that's about 3 heads]
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions [2 medium]
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
18 garlic cloves, peeled [1.5 heads]
3 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth (we used up our supply of stock and had to add a small bit of store broth)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
4 lemon wedges
[A] Roast Some Garlic. You'll note this is similar to the roasting for the appetizers in the previous course.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish.
3. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat.
4. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes.
5. Cool.
6. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.
[B] Make Soup
1. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.
3. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth.
6. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.
NOTE: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
This recipe came from Epicurious, and it was unexpectedly fantastic. We made a double batch and still had about 3 bowls leftover. Making a double batch also means that this soup used 9 entire heads of garlic. That's a personal best for one dish, certainly. In lieu of squeezing the lemon juice, we put the wedge on the side of the bowl and let our guests add it to taste.
The soup was very creamy, rich and filling. It tasted delicious. As you'd expect there was a strong garlic flavor, but it wasn't overpowering. You could taste other flavors in it, especially the delicious cheese. We will definitely be making this again, although not frequently as shucking all the garlic is quite tedious.
On a unrelated tangential note, epicurious sounds like a new sexual orientation. Like, "I'm not completely obsessed with using food as a sexual aid, but I am epi-curious." Ok, maybe not.
Heads of Garlic Used So Far: Nine.
Next up, we take a break from garlic and have a nice salad.
Roasted Garlic Soup With Parmesan Cheese
Serves 4
26 garlic cloves (unpeeled) [that's about 3 heads]
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions [2 medium]
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
18 garlic cloves, peeled [1.5 heads]
3 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth (we used up our supply of stock and had to add a small bit of store broth)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
4 lemon wedges
[A] Roast Some Garlic. You'll note this is similar to the roasting for the appetizers in the previous course.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish.
3. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat.
4. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes.
5. Cool.
6. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.
[B] Make Soup
1. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.
3. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth.
6. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.
NOTE: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
This recipe came from Epicurious, and it was unexpectedly fantastic. We made a double batch and still had about 3 bowls leftover. Making a double batch also means that this soup used 9 entire heads of garlic. That's a personal best for one dish, certainly. In lieu of squeezing the lemon juice, we put the wedge on the side of the bowl and let our guests add it to taste.
The soup was very creamy, rich and filling. It tasted delicious. As you'd expect there was a strong garlic flavor, but it wasn't overpowering. You could taste other flavors in it, especially the delicious cheese. We will definitely be making this again, although not frequently as shucking all the garlic is quite tedious.
On a unrelated tangential note, epicurious sounds like a new sexual orientation. Like, "I'm not completely obsessed with using food as a sexual aid, but I am epi-curious." Ok, maybe not.
Heads of Garlic Used So Far: Nine.
Next up, we take a break from garlic and have a nice salad.