I am a little obsessed with gut-health. I’ve been banging on about the this topic for a while now. I’ve also recently launched my own Gut Lovin’ Gelatin. It’s no surprise then that my latest book I Quit Sugar: Simplicious includes a stack of gut-healing fixes. One of them being my Good For Your Gut Garlic recipe.
Garlic has amazing properties and is particularly good for fighting off infections in the digestive tract and lungs, but it can be rough on your guts when eaten raw. Fermenting famously fixes most things, including this issue. Plus, if you hate peeling garlic, then doing up a bunch of heads in one fell swoop makes a lot of sense.
Good For Your Guts Garlic
- 6-8 heads garlic
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tablespoon Homemade Whey or 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or basil (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
Preheat the oven to 90 C. Place the garlic heads on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour or until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins. (Some ovens may take longer, but don’t be tempted to crank the temp!) Cool a little, then simply pop the cloves from their skins, being sure to leave the ends intact.
Place in a 1 litre preserving jar with the rest of the ingredients and top with water, leaving 3 cm clear at the top. Seal loosely and leave on the bench for 3-5 days (a little longer if you don’t use whey). Then seal tightly and place in a fridge for 6 month. Best left for a couple of weeks before eating.
Be gentle!
Avoid damaging the flesh of the garlic clove, especially the root end (don’t cut it off). Any cut will cause it to ferment unevenly and make the clove turn blue… which is nothing to be worried about; it’s merely an amino acid reacting with the acid. All good. Just not pretty.
Have you tried this recipe? Share your results on Instagram using the hashtag #simplicious.
