Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients

2 large heads of garlic, roasted with olive oil and sea salt
3 c. of (any type) milk, warmed (it is very important that the milk is warm. If it is too cold when you add it to the roux, the texture of the soup will be funky when the soup is finished)
3 c. of water and 2 veggie bouillon cubes (or 3 cups of veggie stock/broth...I use Rapunzel no-salt-added veggie bouillon)
1 large potato, diced
2 T. Flour
2 T. butter or margarine
1 shallot, finely minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Roast garlic by cutting the top of each head off, coating with olive oil, sprinkling with sea salt and wrapping individually in aluminum foil. Roast in a 450 degree toaster oven for about 45 minutes. Once garlic is roasted and cooled, squeeze roasted garlic out of head and mash into a paste. Set aside (or use whatever method you prefer, if you roast your garlic differently).

2. Put the potatoes in the water/bouillon (or veggie broth) and boil uncovered until the potatoes are tender. Remove the potatoes from the broth and set aside. Set broth on low heat to keep warm.

3. Melt butter in a large, flat-bottomed pan. Add shallot and cook in butter until tender (2-3 minutes). Sprinkle flour over butter/shallot mixture and cook for a minute or so, making a roux.

4. Slowly add warmed milk to roux, stirring while you add the milk. Add roasted garlic paste to milk mixture. Continue to heat milk mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.

5. Once milk is slightly thickened, slowly add broth, stirring constantly while you add it. Let cook for 2 or 3 minutes to thicken a little more.

6. After broth and milk are fully incorporated and slightly thickened, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth (you can also do this with an immersion blender if you have one, but I don’t have one so I use my processor).

7. Add soup back to pan and add the cooked potatoes. Warm soup back up and cook for a minute or two to reheat the potatoes (this may not be necessary if the potatoes haven’t been sitting long). Add salt and pepper to taste (and a little extra garlic powder, if you like it super garlicky). Be sure to wait until the very end to add the salt.