Italian Roasted Garlic Soup

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 4 whole heads of garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 1/2 cups chicken stock or 3 1/2 cups broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans or 1 (15 ounce) can beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup half-and-half (i used fat free 1/2 & 1/2) or 1/2 cup milk (i used fat free 1/2 & 1/2)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, for topping
• chopped fresh parsley, for topping

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°.
• 2 rub off some of the papery outer skins of the garlic heads but do not peel them or separate the cloves, leave the heads intact.
• 3 slice 1/4" off the top of each garlic head.
• 4 place the heads, cut side up, in a lightly sprayed or oiled baking dish.
• 5 drizzle 1/2 teaspoons oil over each head.
• 6 bake, uncovered, until golden, about 1 hour.
• 7 cool slightly then press the whole head with your hand all at once to release the garlic pulp.
• 8 place the pulp in a bowl and set aside.
• 9 in a large soup pot over medium heat, warm the remaining oil.
• 10 add onion and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.
• 11 add reserved garlic pulp, stock, beans, basil salt, pepper and bay leaf.
• 12 bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes.
• 13 remove bay leaf and discard.
• 14 in a food processor or blender (or better yet, an immersion blender, which is what i used), puree soup in batches.
• 15 return to pot and stir in half-and-half.
• 16 simmer until flavors are blended, about 5 minutes.
• 17 ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and parsley.