Recipes

Preheat oven to 350. remove loose, papery skin from garlic, leaving heads intact. Place garlic on a sheet of heavy-duty foil; drizzle with 1/4 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Loosely wrap foil around garlic, folding foil edges securely. Roast until garlic has softened, about 40 minutes, then transfer to plate. Open carefully and discard foil; let garlic cool.

Separate garlic into cloves. Squeeze soft garlic from each clove into a small bowl; set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium flame, heat remaining 1/4 tsp olive oil. Add onion, celery, and roasted garlic. Cover and cook until vegetable soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, 1 cup water, bay leaf, basil, oregano, thyme, and 1/4 tsp pepper; bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes to blend flavors.

Remove bay leaf. in a blender, puree soup inbatches until smooth. Makes 4 servings.