Roasted Herb, Fresh Herb & Olive Oil Spread

FoodBooksSangria's Note:

Easy to prepare, and delicious heated & slathered on hot, fresh bread or warm toast slices. This recipe yields about 1/2 cup of spread, which goes pretty quickly (enough for 4 to 5 slices of bread). This recipe is easily doubled or tripled with very little extra prep time.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 2-3

Yield: 0.5 cup

• 2 heads garlic
• 5 tablespoons of high-quality extra virgin olive oil , plus
• additional extra virgin olive oil , for roasting the garlic
• ½ cup assorted fresh herbs of choice (I used parsley, marjoram, summer savory, oregano & basil leaves, going heaviest on the basil)
• 1 -2 tablespoon high-quality balsamic vinegar
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare and roast garlic: separate cloves, leaving papery skins on. Toss in olive oil and seal oiled cloves in foil. Roast in oven for 45 minutes. When roasted cloves are cool enough to handle, slide them out of their papery skins.
2. In food processor, Vita-Mix or blender, combine garlic, the 5 tablespoons of olive oil, herbs & balsamic vinegar. Process into a fairly smooth mix.
3. Salt & pepper to taste. Cover & heat briefly on high power in microwave (45 seconds for 1/2 cup of spread) before serving with hot, freshly baked bread or warm toast triangles.
4. Cover & refrigerate any unused portion, and discard after two weeks.