Creamy roasted garlic soup (Print Version)

# Ingredients:

→ Soup Base

01 - 1 (or 2) heads of garlic
02 - 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
03 - 2 pounds (about 4 medium-large) russet potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped and boiled just until fork tender
04 - 4-6 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth (32 oz-48 oz/ 900-1350 grams)
05 - 4 cups (or more) sliced crimini mushroom (10.5 oz/300 grams), brushed but not rinsed/soaked in water
06 - ¼ cup salted butter
07 - ¼ cup flour (see Notes for GF option)
08 - 1 cup milk
09 - ¼ cup half and half (10% cream)
10 - Good pinch ground thyme (about ½ tsp) + more fresh sprigs for garnish
11 - Sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste

→ Garnish Options

12 - Coarse black pepper or paprika
13 - Fresh thyme
14 - Minced green onion/chives
15 - Seared mushroom
16 - Parmesan or crumbled feta cheese

# Instructions:

01 - Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
02 - With a sharp knife, slice off the top layer of the garlic head/s to expose most of the cloves and peel of as many outer layers of the garlic as possible. You should still be left with a primary layer of skin around the cloves.
03 - Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and coarse pepper. Wrap the garlic head/s in a piece of aluminum foil and place the foiled bundle/s on a baking sheet.
04 - Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or so until the garlic is gorgeously fragrant and, once carefully unwrapped, has taken on a golden color and butter soft texture.
05 - To extract the delicious caramelized garlic from the skin, simply work from the bottom and gently squeeze the garlic through the skin (much like toothpaste) the garlic will ooze out. Set the warm roasted garlic aside.
06 - In a large pot or dutch oven, melt butter over low-medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes or so until translucent. Sprinkle the buttered onions with flour* mixing well to integrate and make sure that the flour doesn't brown/burn while it's mixing.
07 - Add the broth (starting with 4 cups), milk, cream, thyme and a few cracks of salt & pepper, whisking to combine. Allow the soup to come to a boil, while continuing to whisk for 10 seconds or so, and then reduce to lowest heat and allow the broth to simmer for another couple minutes as the roux works its magic and the soup begins to thicken somewhat. Turn off heat.
08 - Add the cooked potatoes and roasted garlic cloves intermingling with the béchamel sauce.
09 - Working in batches, carefully transfer ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth. For a more dilute consistency, add a little more broth to desired consistency. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings as desired.
10 - Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sauté mushrooms in a little bit of butter or olive oil until a nice sear develops, adding a few cracks of salt/pepper as desired. Be sure to allow the pan to heat up first and allow the natural water contained in the mushrooms to be released and eventually burnt off through the cooking process.
11 - Set the seared mushrooms aside to cool slightly before adding the majority of them to the blended soup (while retaining a few to garnish the top of the soup). Serve the soup warm and topped as desired with fresh thyme sprigs, green onion/chives, black pepper, seared mushroom and/or cheese.

# Notes:

01 - This soup will store well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Dairy soups tend to separate when frozen - this just means that the fat breaks away from the other elements in the mixture and needs to be whisked back into the mixture as it heats to avoid graininess.
02 - You can add a touch more tapioca/cornstarch slurry to help reconstitute the texture if you decide to freeze.
03 - If you are reheating the soup from the fridge you may need to add additional broth to desired consistency as most soups tend to thicken over time.
04 - Roasted garlic is much mellower than raw garlic so don't let the idea of multiple cloves intimidate you.
05 - All purpose flour creates a smooth Béchamel, but tapioca starch/flour works as a gluten-free substitute. Whisk vigorously if using tapioca flour for the smoothest texture possible.

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