Preheat the oven to 400°F. Take a knife and cut off the top 4th of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Place the cut head of garlic, cut side up, onto a piece of foil that is big enough to wrap around the entire head of garlic. Drizzle the olive oil over the exposed cloves. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap the foil up around the garlic head to form a little package. Try not to touch the exposed cloves with the foil as the garlic can tend to burn.
Place the package into the oven and cook for 45-60 minutes, depending on how browned you want it. Carefully remove the package with tongs and open the foil. Check the garlic to see if it is soft by piercing a clove with a fork. If it slides in easily with no resistance and is golden brown, it is ready.
You can now allow the garlic head to cool completely and then squeeze the cloves out or you can open up the cloves individually if you want to keep them whole. Use in your favorite recipes that call for roasted garlic or smear it directly on crostini and enjoy!
Notes
You can roast as many garlic heads as you'd like.
This can be used in or on a variety of things, see my tips above.
Make sure that you roast unpeeled.
This can be frozen, see my tips above.
When adding to dishes keep in mind that the garlic flavor has mellowed out a lot so you would need to add more roasted garlic than you would fresh raw garlic.
When adding to dishes like Mashed Potatoes, Alfredo Sauce or used in a vinaigrette make sure you smash it all first with a fork.
The cloves are easily removable from the head after roasting.