Garlic makes even the simplest recipe delicious, and confit of garlic has a lovely mellow taste as well as making the best garlic oil for dressings.
Confit of garlic is a clever way of preserving garlic and making garlic-infused olive oil all in one go. You can use the squidgy and pungent garlic cloves to quickly cheer up some meat or veggies, or pour some oil over spaghetti. Simply pop a few cloves of garlic out of a preserved bulb and smash them up or puree with some of the garlicky oil and spread the soft garlic cloves over toasted bread or tomato and basil crostini. The soft garlic cloves and oil can also be incorporated into a vegetable pasta or risotto. Also delicious used in pesto or houmous recipes.
Known to have antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties garlic packs a punch against common everyday infections.
- Heat the oven to 110 centigrade.
- Place the whole garlic heads, skins and all, into a small roasting tin or a saucepan that can withstand the heat of the oven.
- Cover the garlic entirely with olive oil. The bigger the pan or the garlic heads, the more oil you will need.
- Heat the oil and garlic on the hob so it is warmed through.
- Cover and place in the oven to infuse for about 3 hours until the garlic is soft and squidgy.
- Leave to cool. Store the garlic in the oil and pick out some when you want to add the soft cloves or garlic-infused oil to your cooking. The rest sits mellowly infusing in the oil.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight glass jar to give it a shelf life of about 2 months.
Cooks' Tips:
- You can add some herbs to it such as rosemary or thyme.
