Roasted Garlic & Olive Croutes
Introduction
Serves: Makes 12 slices or more
Ingredients
Few sprigs of thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ cup small basil leaves
½ cup (18-20) Kalamata olives, stoned and finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Half a French loaf, sliced
Method
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Slice the tip off the head of garlic and put the garlic in a small ovenproof dish. Strew with thyme, season with pepper and drizzle with a little oil. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until browned and very tender. Cool.
2 Chop basil and mix in a bowl with the olives, lemon juice, oil, a pinch of salt (depending on the saltiness of the olives – you may not need any), and plenty of black pepper. As soon as the garlic is cool, squeeze it to release the garlic purée and mix this with the other ingredients in the bowl.
3 Taste the roasted garlic purée, adding a little more salt, pepper or lemon juice if required. It should have quite a sharp salty bite to make a contrast if serving with soup.
4 When ready to serve the soup, preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Put the French bread on a baking sheet (tray), drizzle with a little oil and bake for 7-10 minutes, until golden. Spread with the roasted garlic purée and serve immediately with the soup.
Recipe Notes
While roasting one head of garlic, you may as well cook two or three heads. Use the garlic purée with roast lamb or steaks, or as a base for soup. I’ve suggested serving these croutes with Tomato & Bean Soup.