By Julie Kohl
I have been sick for the entire fall of 2014. I still have the sniffles and the “man voice” that makes all my students giggle. I am however determined to spend fewer days in 2015 under the weather.
Cold and flu season, and winter in general, is the perfect time to make and eat a lot of soup. I typically make a big batch of soup every Sunday and freeze individual portions that I can take to work all week long. Lunch prep is easy and it’s healthy eating.
Today I’m making a delicious roasted garlic soup. Roasting the garlic sweetens it and takes away its sharp bite. This soup is sure to ward of any evil bugs but don’t forget to bring the breath mints!
Roasting garlic is easy and can be done easily and fairly quickly in the oven. I use an electric garlic roaster.
This is probably one of my most favorite and most used kitchen appliances. If you don’t have an electric garlic roaster just slice off the top of a whole bulb of garlic. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb in foil and pop it into a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes. You will want to check the garlic at this point. Each clove should be golden and mushy. If not – allow it to cook just a bit longer. You can roast several bulbs together.
Let’s make soup!
- 1 onion, sliced very thin
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 2-3 stems of fresh thyme
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3-4 bulbs of garlic, roasted
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic Parmesan croutons, optional
- Roast 3-4 heads of garlic as indicated above. Allow the garlic to cool and then squeeze to extract the cloves.
- Discard the skins and set the garlic aside.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions.
- Cook the onions for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften.
- Add the thyme, roasted garlic and chicken stock.
- Simmer and cook for about 20 minutes to let the flavors blend.
- Carefully remove the thyme stems.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until no large chunks of garlic remain
- Salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add the cream and heat until warmed through.
- Top the soup with garlic Parmesan croutons before serving.
Arkansas Women Blogger’s Calendar Cultivator and member Julie Kohl writes about her adventures with food, recipes, crafts and creativity on her blog Eggs and Herbs. As former Yankee who was “converted” to the south by her husband, Julie has grasped on to rural life in a sleepy, blink-your-eyes-and-you’ll-miss-it town in east central Arkansas. She raises chickens, horses, and English mastiffs and spends her summers off from teaching art growing an herb garden and crafting all kinds of delicious recipes
This looks so good. Can’t wait to try it.