Baked garlic and crostini soup with Asiago cheese

In the cold and cold season, treat yourself and your loved ones to a warming baked garlic soup. Despite the 6 heads of garlic in its composition, the soup turns out to be very soft in taste, delicate, with spicy-sweet notes. And the aroma is such that everyone's appetite will grow. Soft baked garlic is fried in butter along with flour, and then gradually supplemented with chicken broth and heavy cream to thicken the soup and become a little creamy. Served with crostini - crispy Italian sandwiches with melted Asiago cheese. Pour the soup into small mugs and can be served at house parties as a snack.

Ingredients

• Soup: 6 large heads of garlic Olive oil, to drizzle 6 tbsp. l. unsalted butter 1/4 cup flour 4 tbsp. chicken broth 1 tbsp. l. dried italian seasoning 1/4 cup heavy cream Chopped fresh parsley, for serving
• Crostini: 1/3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves of garlic, minced 0.5 tsp. spicy Hungarian paprika 0.5 tsp dried oregano, chopped 1 sourdough baguette, cut obliquely into 2.5 cm slices. 0.5 tbsp. grated asiago cheese

Directions

1. Prepare the soup: Preheat oven to 190 ° C. Trim the tops off the garlic heads to expose the cloves and remove any excess husk. Place the garlic on a large sheet of foil; sprinkle with 1 tbsp. l. olive oil and sprinkle with 0.5 tsp. salt and black pepper. Wrap the garlic in foil, leaving a space between the tops and the foil, and place on a baking sheet. Bake until soft and aromatic, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from foil, cool and squeeze garlic into a bowl.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan (preferably enamelled cast iron), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the baked garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, another 5-6 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. chicken broth and stir. Repeat this process until all of the broth is added. Gradually pour in 2 tbsp. water, stirring after each glass. Add Italian seasoning, 1.5 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. black pepper, mix well. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes.
3. In the meantime, prepare the crostini: Increase the oven temperature to 200 ° C. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon. black pepper, paprika and oregano mix well. Place the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment and brush it with a mixture of butter and cranberries. Sprinkle each slice with about 1 tsp. grated cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and the bread is browned, 8-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the cream and simmer over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Pour into small mugs or bowls, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Serve crostini soup.