Recipe: Roasted Garlic Soup

This recipe is an example of why it is sometimes way more fun to eat at home.  I first tasted a version of this roasted garlic soup at lunch at the Union Square Cafe in New York City many years ago.  That afternoon was cold.  The sidewalks were icy.  The garlic soup, rich and creamy (and ordered by Bob), was spot on perfect.  But I only tasted a spoonful because, after running a restaurant, I know all to well why most soups taste so damn great when you are out to eat.  It is the restaurant industry axis of evil: butter, cream and salt.  Once you’ve been on the other side of the curtain, it takes a fair amount of joy out of eating to know how things are really made in a restaurant.  Lets just say that we spent more money on butter and cream than almost any other ingredient.  But . . . make a soup at home and you know exactly what is in your bowl.  In this case, no butter, no cream.  Just lots of this:

Actually it is better to use the grown up version:

I promise you’ll be surprised at how creamy and rich this soup turns out.  Top it with some sautéed brussels sprout leaves for a first dish or add some sausage (chicken it you want to stick with the healthy thing) and pair with a nice salad and you have dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large heads garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups onion, thinly sliced
15 peeled garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
4 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

TO PREPARE:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Remove most of the papery outer layers of the garlic.  Trim off the top and drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil.  Cover with foil and bake around 45 minutes until the garlic is soft.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add roasted garlic and the raw garlic cloves and cook 5 minutes. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 4.