40 Clove Garlic Soup

To roast garlic: Preheat oven to 350 F. Slice ½” off the top of the heads of garlic and put them in a small baking dish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool. Squeeze cloves of garlic to extract garlic meat from the skin of the cloves. Set roasted garlic aside and discard the skins.

Heat a large sauce pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add in remaining olive oil. When oil is hot add in thinly sliced onion. Cook and stir until it becomes translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in thyme and stir. Pour in chicken broth, roasted garlic, raw garlic and red pepper flakes. Bring to steady simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until raw garlic is very soft.

In small portions, pour soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour smooth soup into a large bowl and repeat until all soup has been blended. Add the pureed soup back into the soup pan and continue to simmer. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Steadily pour in heavy cream and white wine. Stir to combine. Keep on low heat until croutons are ready.

For the croutons:
In a large bowl toss large chunks of bread with olive oil and spices.

In a pan over medium high heat toast chunks of bread until they become golden brown. Remove from pan and toss with Parmesan cheese. Serve croutons over soup.

Ladle soup into bowl and top with croutons and spritz with lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen 44 Clove Garlic Soup.