Roasted Garlic, Parmesan rolls

Roasted garlic is sublime. The smell alone is enough to put me in an aroma-coma. You can roast a head of garlic, remove it from the papery shell, and spread it alone on a piece of bread. It has a sweetness imparted by the roasting that is like none other!

Don't be frightened off by the roasting process. It is incredibly simple. Take a large head of garlic. Cut the top off so that most of the cloves are exposed.

Yeah. Fully aware that my garlic is sprouting. Don't think it matters though. Continue.

Drizzle olive oil over the top of the cloves. wrap it in a layer of foil, put it into a glass dish or somthing similar, and bake it in the oven at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. It will look all carmelized when it's done.
Let it cool enough to touch and remove the cloves from the skins. You can smash it up like I described above, or mix with sour cream & put on a baked potato (oh my gosh!) Or smash it up in mashed potatoes with rosemary, butter & cream!!

Ok. So roast three medium sized heads of garlic as directed. Soften a stick of butter. Remove the cloves and smash them up in a bowl. Add the butter, a pinch of salt, 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese, (not KRAFT, not KRAFT, NOT KRAFT!!) 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs, and 2 teaspoons of italian seasoning. Stir it all up and set aside.

You need some dough. I have a roll recipe that I use for several things. It is a wonderful recipe. If you want it, let me know. But I realize that time is a factor in all our lives. If you want to use frozen bread dough, I will not cry. I can't promise that they will turn out as divine as these rolls did, but it's not gonna kill ya! You will need three pounds of dough.

After the first rise, roll the dough out in a rectangle about 16X24 inches. Take the roasted garlic mixture that you set aside and sprinkle all over the dough. Like so:



Then, roll up like a cinnamon roll. If your dough is incredibly, pillowy soft like my dough, you will have problems slicing without squishing. I use dental floss to cut rolls like these. Slide the floss under the roll, then bring it up over the top and cross. See?



Then place the rolls 12 to a jelly-roll pan, and let rise again for 30-40 minutes, or until double. Then bake at 350 degrees until nicely browned on top, about 15-17 minutes depending on your oven. Brush with a little melted butter when you pull them out of the oven. Done. Eat at least one while hot, or wish you had.

Again the ingredients:

3 heads of garlic
olive oil

3 pounds bread dough

1/2 cup (one stick) butter
1 cup parmesean cheese
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
pinch of salt