60 Clove Creamy Garlic Soup
This soup is insanely garlicky, creamy, savory, and comforting. Garlic is known for its immune boosting properties, and what a better way to prepare your immune system for fall (read: flu season + covid) than making a soup with 60 whole cloves of it?
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Makes 4-5 servings
Prep time: 1 hr
Cook time: 15 min
What you’ll need
6 heads garlic (4 for a milder garlic flavor - 6 is definitely pretty pungent!)
1/2 white or yellow onion
1 bundle of thyme
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock, or equivalent diluted bouillon
1/2 cup shredded parmesan (vegan or non vegan works)
1 yellow potato (more if you want your soup thicker!)
2 cups of unsweetened plant or dairy milk of your choice
1/4 cup dry cheap white wine
Rustic bread/sourdough/garlic bread for croutons
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley for garnishing or any herb tbh
Prep
Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice the tops off of garlic heads, remove loose papery outer layers. Drizzle olive oil and salt generously on exposed cloves, wrap in foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown. Let cool in fridge.
Dice half of an onion. Cuts don’t matter here as you’ll be blending it up, as long as it’s in small pieces it’ll work.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Peel and dice the potato into small 1-2 inch cubes and boil under tender (about 8-10 minutes), testing with a fork. When you can easily stick the fork into the potato pieces it’s ready.
Cook
Saute diced onions in an oiled pan until they start to caramelize and are transculent, about 10-15 minutes.
Squeeze cooled garlic out of the skins. If you’re squeamish you can peel the cloves individually.
To a blender or food processor, add the roasted garlic, cooked onions, and boiled potato chunks. Pulse until it comes together. Add 1 cup of the milk, and blend until completely smooth.
In a larger pot (all the soup will be finished in here), add the mixture of roasted garlic/milk/onion. With the pot on medium/low heat, gradually pour in the remaining 1 cup of milk and 3 cups of stock, stirring throughout. Drop in your bundle of thyme. If using dairy milk, be careful not to let it reach a boil or your soup may curdle.
Add white wine to soup and allow it to cook off. (Needs to be at approx 172 F to let alcohol cook off).
Stir shredded parmesan into soup. When fully incorporated, add salt and pepper to taste. If you want to be extra indulgent, throw in a pat of butter. When soup is ready, remove bundle of thyme.
(Optionally) If you’d like to do your digestive tract a favor for all the pain you might cause it with the garlic, you can add a handful of kale to the soup for fiber.
Plate
If you’d like to top with croutons: Cut bread of choice into cubes and toss with melted butter or olive oil (and optionally, parmesan and herbs). Let the croutons get toasty and crunchy in oven at 400 F for about 10 minutes.
Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, a generous amount of croutons, and fresh herbs. Serve.