Ina Garten's Method For Mincing Garlic Extra Fine

Garlic is an ingredient that adds a layer of depth to almost any recipe. Its intense aroma and flavor create mouth-watering depth to various dishes from around the globe. Ina Garten boasts pages full of recipes containing garlic in her many cookbooks (via Barefoot Contessa). So, she must know something about handling the veggie. Garlic can be messy if you aren't familiar with the prep required, but the Barefoot Contessa has a hack for that.

Ina Garten shared one of her famous hacks for peeling garlic in a video recipe for penne arrabbiata (via YouTube). This tip provides a solution to the sticky mess that garlic creates. Garten recommends blanching the cloves for a few seconds, then separating the clove from the skin with a paring knife. This technique is far less messy than the smash and peel method.

Not only does fresh garlic taste great, but it also contains many health benefits. Spice World Inc says garlic may help lower high blood pressure and boost the body's immune system. It could also help reduce cholesterol levels and contains antibiotic properties. Garlic is a powerful veggie that helps detox your body and spice up your life.

Ina Garten's next garlic trick helps you gain even more flavor from the cloves and avoid the tedious act of mincing, while still adding that zing to any dish.

The Barefoot Contessa teaches the art of grating garlic in a Food Network YouTube video. Instead of mincing the garlic, which she mentions you can do, she grates it. Grating garlic cloves on a zester creates a fine pulp, which allows the garlic to melt effortlessly into any recipe, providing robust flavor.

Grating garlic cloves saves you from one of the longest steps in your cooking routine. The Kitchn says that when garlic is smashed or sliced, the cells inside the clove become damaged. This causes a chemical reaction resulting in a more concentrated garlic flavor. The taste becomes more robust as more cells are damaged, so finely minced and grated garlic releases intense flavor — much more than a smashed clove.

MasterClass recommends grating garlic by rubbing the clove over the stainless steel grater like you would a block of cheese. This is an easy and effective way to obtain maximum flavor from your garlic.