Those of you in CSA will be getting elephant garlic this week (and we’ll have more to sell soon). Here are some tips on what to do with it.

What do I do with an elephant garlic?

Elephant garlic are larger and milder than regular garlic. They are not truly a garlic, rather are related to the leek.

Roasting

The most common way to cook elephant garlic is to roast them. First cut off the papery top and the top 1/2 inch or so of the garlic. Then put the garlic head in the center of a big piece of foil. Partially wrap the garlic and then drench it in olive oil. Seal up the foil, put the whole bundle on a cookie sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes (until garlic inside the cloves is very soft) at 425 degrees.

Once the garlic is done, cool it. Then squeeze the softened garlic out of each clove.

Then what?

After you roast the garlic, there are many things you can do with it:

• Mash into garlic paste and spread on fresh French bread. (This is my favorite.)
• Use the garlic paste to make a cream of garlic soup.
• Mix with olive oil and toss with pasta and diced tomatoes.
• Mash into garlic paste and mix into mashed potatoes or cheesy grits.
• Mash into garlic paste and whisk with olive oil, plain yogurt or sour cream, and herbs to make a creamy garlic salad dressing.

Bon apetit!