Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Infused Olive Oil
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This Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Infused Olive Oil is such a useful ingredient to have in your kitchen toolbox. It takes no time at all and will amp up humdrum roasted veg, grilled meats and salad dressings.
If you cook a lot then there are a bunch of tasks which you will be doing on a regular basis like chopping onions or crushing garlic. It’s these menial jobs which can sometimes add a good few minutes onto preparing your meal and let’s be honest, those few minutes can sometimes be better spent thumbing through Grazia or hopping amongst the Sky channels.
This is why I love infused oils; garlic is such a good infused oil mainly because of garlic’s innate tendency to burn easily, so while I am very careful about using fresh garlic in the oven, if all the garlic flavour is within the oil then you don’t need to worry. Also I do get fed up of always peeling and crushing those suckers, I must do it nearly every day. So having an oil where the hard work is done for you is so useful.
How to use Lemon Thyme and Garlic Olive Oil
This particular infusion of olive oil is brilliant for:
- slathering over a chicken before it goes on to roast.
- drizzled over barbecued meats or steamed vegetables for instant flavour
- substitute your usual olive oil for this one in salad dressings which cuts out mincing about with mustard and vinegar emulsions, chuck this onto your leaves and you’re golden.
So the main thing I am really trying to get across here is that for about 30 minutes of not too stressful labour of a weekend you can produce an oil that will help you cut down time on your cooking for the next couple of weeks. Just as long as you like all your meals flavoured with lemon and garlic, but who doesn’t?
Can you use different herbs?
Of course you can use whatever herbs you like, the woodier herbs tend to dry better than the more leafy ones so will impart flavour more easily. Rosemary is a particular favourite.
Infusion Tips:
- It is important to use dried herbs rather than ones picked fresh as mould will gather on fresh herbs floating about in oil.
- The same goes for the garlic and lemon but I advise you fish those out of the oil anyway then you don’t have to worry about botulism or anything.
Peeling the garlic
This recipe requires you to peel a whole head of garlic. If you find this a bit of a nuisance then you obviously haven’t seen Martha Stewart’s excellent tutorial which explains how the job can be done in under a minute. And since I tested it out for this recipe I can confirm that it does actually work.
Alternative Flavour: Chilli Oil
The other oil infusion I also regularly make is chilli oil. Prepare it in the same way as the garlic infusion by simmering the oil with 1 red chilli then removing the chilli before you decant it.
If you make this Lemon Garlic and Thyme Olive Oil then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
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Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Infused Olive Oil
Ingredients
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 1 head of garlic
- 3 strips lemon zest
- 500 ml olive oil
Instructions
- First of all dry the thyme by putting the herb on baking parchment on a baking tray and place in the bottom tray of an oven at the lowest setting you have. Leave the door slightly ajar and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Remove and peel all the garlic cloves from the head of the garlic.
- Then place the garlic, along with the lemon zest and olive oil in a wide bottomed saucepan.
- Heat the oil on a low setting, never bringing to a simmer, for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the lemon and garlic with a slotted spoon and leave the oil to cool before decanting into a jar along with the dried thyme.
I tried to make this but it turned out really bitter. Although it was on a low heat, the lemon zest seems to fry and and curl up. Where did I go wrong?
I'm sorry it didn't work out as expected. The heat needs to be super low so the lemon doesn't get a chance to cook, the lowest setting if possible.
If it doesn't work on the stove top, maybe try setting your oven to the "warm" or "proof" setting. Place your olive oil and lemon in the same pot and place it in the oven for 30 minutes. This could be done at the same time as drying the thyme..