7 Ways With Garlic

Updated January 28, 2010

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Potential health benefits aside, garlic adds distinct flavor to all kinds of dishes. Raw, sautéed or roasted, its flavor ranges from pungent to nutty to almost sweet.

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7 Ways With Garlic

Credit: Beau Gustafson; Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

Garlic comes in all shapes and sizes, from strongly flavored white American garlic to mauve-skinned milder imports from Italy and Mexico. Crushing or chopping releases garlic's assertive-tasting essential oils, while roasting whole or sautéeing tames and mellows flavor.

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Pancetta-wrapped Garlic

Pancetta-wrapped Garlic Recipe

A long simmer in hot water mellows the flavor of garlic cloves that are then wrapped in salty pancetta and crisped in the oven. Delicious and unusual, this is one appetizer your guests won't stop raving about until every single bite is gone.

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Roasted Garlic Aioli

Credit: James Baigrie; Styling: Lindsey Beatty

Roasted Garlic Aioli Recipe

This garlicky mayonnaise dip starts with a slow-roasted whole bulb of garlic, then combines it with seasonings and bottled artichokes. Sound too involved? Roast the garlic and add it to bottled mayo instead. Leftovers make a great sandwich spread.

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Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic Recipe

A traditional French dish is made even simpler by transferring cooking to the stovetop where chicken pieces braise over a bed of garlic. It sounds like a lot of garlic, but long, slow braising mellows garlic flavor dramatically.

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Linguine with Cauliflower, Garlic and Breadcrumbs

Credit: © Melanie Acevedo

Linguine with Cauliflower, Garlic and Breadcrumbs Tout

Turn a weeknight meal into a fun flavor adventure with this simple pasta dish made with lightly sautéed garlic, anchovy paste, steamed cauliflower, and crispy bread crumbs. Bold and rich, it puts a new spin on this classic Italian pasta.

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Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Butter

Credit: Karry Hosford

Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Butter Recipe

Garlic lovers will go wild for the rich garlic flavor in these easy mashed potatoes made with butter, buttermilk, and rosemary. Since the garlic is oven-roasted before being stirred into the taters, it tastes mildly nutty instead of strongly pungent.

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Fontina and Red Pepper-Stuffed Garlic Focaccia

Credit: Photography: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Lydia DeGaris-Pursell

Fontina and Red Pepper-Stuffed Garlic Focaccia Recipe

Oven-roasted garlic is tucked into a homemade yeast dough with nutty fontina cheese and bottled bell peppers to make a colorful filled foccacia bread. For variety, try the foccacia with other types of cheese, such as provolone, asiago, or parmesan.

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Garlic-Stuffed Mushrooms

Credit: Leigh Beisch

Garlic-Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

It sounds almost crazy to use two bulbs of garlic to stuff such a small quantity of mushrooms. But slow-cooking the garlic in cream tempers its flavor so the mellow bulbs can be crushed and stirred into crunchy Japanese breadcrumbs for a rich filling.

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How-to Video: Preparing Garlic

Learn the best way to peel and mince fresh garlic on this how-to video.

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