Game changer … garlic confit
If you haven’t tried garlic confit then you’re missing out big time! Meltingly tender, the perfect blend of sweet and savoury and with a bonus garlic-flavoured oil as a by-product, garlic confit is a must-have for your kitchen. This amazing ingredient is super versatile – you can add it to pasta sauce, spread it on toast, blend it through dips, make a vinaigrette, toss through vegetables, add it to pizza, use in soups and sauces or make into a paste. Garlic confit is easy to make and will become a staple ingredient in your kitchen once you’ve tasted it.
Confit is a French cooking technique in which food is cooked in fat over low heat for a long time. It is the opposite of frying where food is cooked in fat over high heat for a short time. Duck confit is perhaps the most popular and best known confit but you can confit many foods, including garlic.
How to make garlic confit
Separate the cloves from 3 garlic heads. Peel each clove and use a small sharp knife to trim the tough root ends. Place the cloves in a small saucepan and cover with approximately 300 mL of olive oil, or enough to just cover the cloves. Place the saucepan on the lowest heat possible on your stove. If the oil starts to bubble, remove it from the heat to cool before returning to the heat. Ideally you want the oil to be around 90C during the confit process. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cloves are soft. Remove from heat and place saucepan in a bowl or sink filled with ice to cool the oil. Pour cloves and oil into a sterilised jar and refrigerate. The cloves will keep for several weeks refrigerated as long as they are always covered in oil.
