If you love garlic, you must try this! You will be blown away. This is the perfect food for healing someone who is ill because of garlic’s natural antibiotic properties. But you don’t have to have the sniffles to enjoy it. Its comfort food, anytime!
Story
I love garlic! The idea of garlic ice cream and garlic jam (both of which exist) do not scare me at all! I eat raw garlic on peanut butter when I’m fighting a cold or flu. And otherwise keep garlic as a household staple. In addition to being a natural antibiotic, garlic is also anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and contains many more disease fighting properties. If you love garlic as much as I do, and you’ve have never had garlic soup, you are going to be blown away! At least I was, the first time I ever tried it. It was a cold, dreary November day in Hungary. Hungary is a beautiful country, but like much of Europe and the Northeastern US, November is probably one of the worst times of year to visit! I slurped this soothing soup over looking a gray and unwelcoming Lake Balalon, and my whole body warmed up as I imagined what it must be like in summer. 🙂 I recreated the soup without any idea of what the original recipe was. And I used to use potato, but since potatoes have caused me inflammation lately, I now use cauliflower. Both work great.
Ingredients
1 large head of fresh garlic, plus 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (GF of course, homemade is best!)
~ 4 1/2 cups of potatoes or 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
handful of fresh basil, chiffonaded
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Slice the top off one of the garlic bulbs and place it in a garlic roaster, or wrap with foil. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until lightly golden and oozing. Let the garlic cool. Using a butter knife, remove the garlic cloves from their paper shells, and place in a bowl.
In a medium-sized heavy-bottom stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and the garlic is softened, about 5 minutes more. Add roasted garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Add the broth, potatoes/cauliflower, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat to medium-low and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender (probably 10 minutes or less for cauliflower). Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until creamy. Alternatively, you can process the soup in a blender in batches and return to the stove to heat through.
Serve soup with basil chiffonade in each bowl.