Spicy Garlic Confit and Garlic Oil

Looking to upgrade your pantry with a flavor packed, homemade condiment? Well, look no further!

Why you should make garlic confit?

Having a stash of this Spicy Garlic Confit on hand is going to be a game changer for you. It is herby, but not overpowering, simple to make, and requires a single pan – what could be better?

What can I do with spicy garlic confit?

Let us tell you, the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Garlic Confit is so versatile. It can be the hero of your snack or an addition to your favorite main course dish.

We absolutely love spreading garlic confit on a slice of toast for a quick snack. It can also be used in place of raw garlic in any of our recipes. Or spread across your favorite sandwich for some extra garlic flavor!

We love to use it on the Olive Cheese Bread. 

If you don’t like it spicy or prefer it a little more buttery, check out Food by Maria’s Buttery Garlic Confit Recipe.

How to make spicy garlic confit

1. First, you’re going to prep your garlic by removing the peel. A shortcut you can take is buying garlic cloves that have already been peeled. It saves a ton of time and makes this recipe much easier!
2. Once your ingredients are ready, you’ll add the tomatoes, garlic, peppers, herbs, chili flakes and salt to a dry pan.
3. Then add in the olive oil. You will want to make sure that the olive oil (for the most part) covers the ingredients. This will allow the garlic to soften in the olive oil, rather than pan fry it. If you find that the olive oil only comes up half way, you may want to switch to a smaller pan.
4. Now, bring the pan up to a simmer over medium heat. Ideally, you want some rolling bubbles, but be sure not to let the pan get too hot. If the olive oil starts to pop or sizzle, bring the heat down to ensure that it does not hit its smoking point (this could cause the garlic to take on a bitter flavor).
5. Let the ingredients simmer together for about an hour, and voila! Your garlic confit is ready to cool down. Once cool, you can spread it on toast, store it for future use or toss it right into your dinner recipe!

How to store spicy garlic confit

The beauty of Garlic Confit is that the method to make it, also helps to preserve it. Boiling the Garlic in Olive Oil not only infuses the flavor of the herbs and spices, it also helps the garlic confit maintain freshness for longer.

When storing, be sure to keep your garlic cloves submerged in the olive oil. Ideally, you will want about a half to a full inch of oil above the garlic cloves to prevent oxidations. We love storing garlic confit in a glass jar, because glass is not porous and the container will not take on the smell or taste of the garlic. But, really any container will do!

Garlic confit can be stored in your refrigerator for about a week (if it can last that long without being eaten). If you prefer to make a larger batch, you can easily freeze the garlic confit in the olive oil and it will stay fresh for up to 3 months!

If you’ve frozen your batch of garlic confit, there are a couple safe ways you can defrost it!

You can take the entire container of garlic confit and pop it in your refrigerator. Depending on how much garlic confit is stored, it can soften up to be used in about 8 hours. But even a large frozen batch should defrost in the fridge in about 24 hours.

You can use your storage container as a double boiler (be careful doing this with plastic, though, as it may not be temperature resistant the way glass and silicone are). Simply heat up some water in a small sauce pot until the water is warm, but not bubbling, and submerge the container into the water using tongs until the oil defrosts. This should be a quick defrost. It is important that you do not let the bottom of the storage container touch the bottom of the sauce pot!

The last method to defrost frozen garlic confit (and the easiest method in our opinion) is to freeze the garlic confit in a silicone ice cube tray. That way when you are ready to use it, you already have a portioned out serving and can drop it directly into a pan or into a bowl to microwave it!

Spicy Garlic Confit with Garlic Oil

5 from 2 votes

Author: Food Dolls

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This confit is full of flavor and a touch of heat, it's a great condiment to have on hand!

Ingredients  

• ▢ 8 oz cherry tomatoes
• ▢ 1 cup peeled whole garlic cloves
• ▢ 2 dried chili peppers optional
• ▢ 1 spring fresh sage
• ▢ 1 spring fresh rosemary
• ▢ 1 spring fresh thyme
• ▢ 1 tsp crushed red pepper optional
• ▢ 1 tbsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Instructions 

• Add the tomatoes, garlic, peppers, herbs, chili flakes and salt to a dry pan.
• Add in the olive oil. You will want to make sure that the olive oil (for the most part) covers the ingredients. This will allow the garlic to soften in the olive oil, rather than pan fry it. If you find that the olive oil only comes up half way, you may want to switch to a smaller pan.
• Bring the pan up to a simmer over medium heat. Ideally, you want some rolling bubbles, but be sure not to let the pan get too hot. If the olive oil starts to pop or sizzle, bring the heat down to ensure that it does not hit its smoking point (this could cause the garlic to take on a bitter flavor).
• Let the ingredients simmer together for about 50 min-1 hour. Let cool completely before storing.

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Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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