44 Clove Garlic Soup, or How I Make New Friends
I look forward to eating this soup every fall, but what I anticipate even more is sharing it with new friends. Whether I bring a steaming pot over for a potluck or am dishing it up in my own dining room, the name always elicits the same pronouncements of disbelief: "Wait, you said how many cloves of garlic? 44? Seriously?"
Invariably, a first timer's shock at the sheer amount of garlic involved only further solidifies our friendship once they've finished their 11-clove portion and are asking for seconds. Surprisingly mellow, but not at all boring, this soup never fails to surprise and delight. It's everything I love about garlic.
I've done the legwork to figure out the ideal amount of garlic by weight, as the local garlic I favor in this recipe has cloves 2-3 times the size of your grocery store variety. So while the recipe title still indicates 44 whole cloves, you will have better results by following the indicated weights. If you don't have a food scale, go by count, and consider adjusting the amount of chicken broth and cream to taste if your soup seems either seems too garlicky or not garlicky enough.
44 Clove Garlic Soup
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Soup
Servings
4
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours
The garlic I prefer for this recipe (and all others) comes from Stone Soup Gardens in Laurel, and their cloves are gigantic. Accordingly, I've done the work to translate the original recipe, which only listed the number of cloves, into weights. If using some of this fantastic local garlic, you'll use significantly fewer cloves overall. But do keep calling it 44 Clove Garlic Soup to impress all your friends :)
Ingredients
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140 grams or approximately 28 cloves garlic, unpeeled
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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2 tablespoons butter
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2 cups sliced white onions
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1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
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90 grams or approximately 18 cloves garlic, peeled
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3 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
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½ cup whipping cream
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½ cup grated parmesan cheese
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4 lemon wedges
Directions
Preheat oven to 350º. Place unpeeled garlic in a small glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover with the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cover baking dish tightly and bake until cloves are golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes. Cool, then squeeze the garlic between fingertips to release the cloves. Set aside in a small bowl.
In a dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and thyme and cook until the onions are transluscent, about 6 minutes. Add the roasted garlic and the peeled, uncooked cloves and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until garlic is tender, about 20 minutes.
Puree the soup in a blender or in the pot with an immersion blender. Return to low heat, add the cream and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, divide grated cheese between 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.