A little Garlic goes a long way...

...but a LOT of garlic goes a really long way! Another day at the market and another lesson learned: when the man says 1 kilo of garlic, you get 1 kilo of garlic. That’s right, I came home with about 2 lbs of garlic for the price of 1 Euro! Seemed like a steal until I realized I didn’t know what the heck I was going to do with it all. TGFG (Thank God For Google).

I know garlic is used in everything here in Italy, and I am a-ok with that, but before I walk around breathing garlic fire (or at the very least scare my husband away), I wanted to know: is garlic freeze-able? How can I store it?  If for some reason I can’t manage to use all 4 large heads of garlic, will it be a waste? In the back of my mind I imagine a little Italian old lady chasing me down the street and cursing me for wasting such a jewel, if I were to allow it to go bad before using it all.

Of course I can roast them whole and they are delicious by themselves..but, like I said, I have a lot of garlic. So I sought the help of my cookbook library and came across a Garlic Puree, which can be stirred into things like mashed potatoes or pasta sauces. (Now I just need my Magic Bullet to arrive any day now). Then in my email box today I received a monthly newsletter I subscribe to that had a recipe for Basil and Garlic Tomatoes. What a coincidence, I bought a kilo of cherry tomatoes today also!

All ingredient amounts here are flexible…obviously I increased the garlic J It’s best to let the mixture sit at room temperature for at least an hour to absorb the flavors. Eat by itself, on toasted bread, or as an easy pasta mix-in!  I had planned to drizzle with olive oil right before eating, but it didn't need it!

Basil & Garlic Tomatoes

• 3 cups quartered cherry tomatoes (or any good tomatoes chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (unless you like big chunks- I don’t!)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• ¼-1/2 tsp salt  

The jury is still out as to whether or not garlic is freeze-able. According to my credible google search, it is possible, but may not keep quality-wise. Oh well. 3 cloves down, 57 to go (there are usually 10-15 cloves in a head, fyi).