Cheese, Meat and Carbs! Yuuum!

Okay, just throwing it out there, who doesn’t love the combination of the above mentioned items; especially when paired with wine?!?! We have wonderful bread that crackles on the outside and is super soft on the inside. Rich salty meats and yes, cheese. Everyone loves a take on an antipasto platter. And the best part is minimal cooking. If you’re busy and looking to impress, all you have to do it add most of these things to your grocery list and cut them up. I pretty much roasted some garlic and baked some figs; then just tried to make it look pretty.

What you will want is:

Some good salami

Some good prosciutto

Olives

Figs

Cheese (I chose brie, parmesan and sharp white cheddar)

Bread (I chose French. I then cut them into 1/4-1/2 inch thick pieces.)

Elephant Garlic

Garlic (regular ol' cloves)

Olive oil and balsamic for dipping

Very little of this requires an actual "cooking" explanation. And the best part is, its open to interpretation. You're never really "missing an ingredient".

Both the elephant garlic and the garlic cloves were roasted at 350 degrees for 40 min. If you’ve never roasted garlic before, Ill break it down for you.

For the elephant garlic, you’re going to want to completely peel it and coat it in olive oil and salt. I like to wrap mine in foil. I make a little tin foil envelop and set it on a cookie sheet.

With regards to the plain old generic garlic, what you will want to do it take a sharp knife and cut the top off of the head so that every clove is exposed. Likewise, drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt. It too has a happy little envelope to be wrapped up in. Both are cooked at the same temperature for the same duration of time. You’ll know your garlic is done once it has deepened in color and is easily pierced.

The figs are even more simple!

Halve or quarter them. Drizzle them with honey. Or not. Bake in the oven at 350 for 20 min.

TADA!