Roasted Garlic Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Preparation

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  1.
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  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or 160 degrees fan oven.
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  2. Trim off the top of 5 garlic heads, just showing the tops of the garlic cloves inside, and pull off some of the papery outside layers. Put the heads into a loosely wrapped foil parcel, drizzled with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cloves of garlic are soft and golden.
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  3. Allow the heads to cool for a few minutes then squeeze out the roasted garlic
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  if you press the bottom of each clove it should pop out quite easily.
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  4. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Heat the sunflower oil and butter gently in a large saucepan, then sauté the onions over a low heat for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the crushed garlic and pull the thyme leaves off the stalks and add to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes, then stir in the roasted garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
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  5. Pour in the hot chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
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  6. Blend the soup into a smooth puree. Reheat in the pan, pour the milk into the soup and heat gently, then spoon in the crème fraiche, stir and heat through. Add the lemon juice a little at a time to taste
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  you may not need it all. Season well with salt and black pepper.
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  7. To make the croutons, heat the oven to 190 degrees or 170 degrees fan oven. Cut the bread into bite sized pieces and place on an oiled baking tray. [Bread cut from a rustic style loaf is best for this.] Drizzle on a little olive oil and bake for 5 minutes.
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  8. Turn over the croutons and grate parmesan cheese on top of them, then bake for a further 5 minutes.
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  9. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with chopped chives and arrange a small heap of croutons on the top.