Garlic Soup

Garlic Soup

July 2, 2009, 5:31 am
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: garlic, soup, weekday

Garlic Soup

Everybody in my house is sick, except the cat. And I only assume he isn’t sick because his normal cycle of eating, running frantically up and down the stairs, sleeping for six hours and repeat hasn’t changed.

With the upper respiratory ick going around, soup is definitely called for but none of us were really feeling up to anything with tons of meat or noodles or tons of anything really. Something flavorful and creamy. Something made for dunking. Well I had something saved in my “Spring it on ’em sometime” file. 44-Clove Garlic Soup.

Oh yeah, you heard me. 44.

It sounds horrifying, unless you’re obsessed with garlic like I am. So I just had to bundle Spouse and Spawn up in bed and get to work, telling them nothing more than soup would be on the table soon. The flavor of this soup is really a lot more warming and mellow than SPICYOMGGARLICAAAH!!!, seeing as how most of the garlic cloves are roasted, few are tossed in there raw. If we’d been feeling up to anything other than soup, a simple green salad with vinaigrette would have been an awesome side. But as it was, soup and giant hunks of bread were more than enough for two sick adults and a sick kid. (The kid? She asked for a straw and proceeded to drink her soup that way.)

44-Clove Garlic Soup

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Bon Appetit

• 26 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup greek style yogurt
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped roughly
• 18 peeled garlic cloves
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 oz parmesan, shredded
• Handful of chopped chives for garnish
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Put your 26 cloves of unpeeled garlic in a small baking dish, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or when it’s all brown and oh so fragrant. When it’s cool enough to handle (And you better believe I didn’t wait quite that long!) squeeze the cloves out of their little papery shells and set them aside.

Toss your butter, onions and oregano in a pot and cook over medium heat until your onions are soft and starting to go transparent on you. Add all of your garlic, roasted and non and cook for another 3 minutes or so. The smell? It’ll be maddeningly good at this point. Add your stock and wine and let it simmer until those raw garlic cloves can be smashed with a spoon. (This took close to 30 minutes for me.) 

About a third of the pot at a time, transfer to a blender and puree. Really be careful about this, you do not want hot garlic soup sprayed all over. (Yep. Did that too! Both overestimated the capacity of my blender and underestimated the power of its motor.) 

Pour that soup back into your pot, add the cream and yogurt and bring to a gentle simmer. Salt, pepper and cheese! Ladle it into bowls and drop a bit of chives atop it and you are ready for garlic heaven!

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