How to make your own infused olive oil – learn how!
It is so easy to make your own infused olive oil, so that’s what we’re going to do today. We were recently gifted a large container of extra virgin olive oil from a client. It was from Almazara de Lourdes in Los Gallardos (Almería). Thank you Fernando!!
The perfect pairing
There are some things that just seem to belong together: good bread and olive oil, tomatoes and garlic, sunshine and Spain. And if you have ever sat down at a Spanish restaurant with a basket of crusty bread and a little dish of beautifully flavoured olive oil, you will know just how moreish it can be.
Today, we are using a lovely little recipe from our good friend Victoria Twead, who has shared her simple method for making your own infused olive oil at home. The beauty of this recipe is that you can make it your own. Garlic, herbs, peppercorns or dried chillies can all be added to the oil, either individually or in combinations. Leave it to infuse and you have a wonderfully flavoured oil ready to drizzle, dip and generally make your food considerably more interesting. And, because we are in Spain, then we’ll absolutely serve it with some good crusty bread.
How to make your own infused olive oil
This is one of those wonderfully simple recipes where there is very little actual cooking involved. You are essentially giving the olive oil time to take on the flavours of whatever you choose to add.
Ingredients
Good-quality olive oil, plus any of the following:
- Whole peeled cloves of garlic
- Sprigs of thyme
- Sprigs of rosemary
- Whole black peppercorns
- Dried chilli peppers
You can use one ingredient on its own or combine several together.
Method to make your own infused olive oil
Simply add any of the aforementioned ingredients to the olive oil. You can add them on their own or combine them however you like.
Spain Buddy Elle’s extra step: Before leaving the oil to infuse, you can warm the olive oil very, very gently with your chosen ingredients for around 10 minutes. The oil should be gently warmed rather than heated or cooked. This simply gives the infusion a little head start. Allow it to cool before bottling.
How to use your infused olive oil
Once your oil has had time to infuse, you can use it in all sorts of ways. Drizzle it over a simple tomato salad, use it to finish a bowl of pasta or add a little to pizza just before serving. It is also rather lovely simply poured into a shallow dish and served alongside crusty bread for dipping.
You can also experiment with different combinations. Rosemary and garlic will give you a very Mediterranean flavour, while dried chillies will add a little heat. Thyme and black peppercorns make a more subtle combination.
The important thing is to start with a good quality extra virgin olive oil. After all, if the oil is going to be the star of the show, it deserves to be a good one in order to make your own infused olive oil. This does work with normal olive oil, but extra virgin olive oil is much better to use if it’s going on salads or being dunked in by bread. I mean, it’ll be nice… but not quite AS nice.
If you have ever found yourself mopping up the last drops of flavoured olive oil with a piece of bread, you already know exactly how lovely this will be.
A little food-safety note
If you are making infused oil with fresh garlic or fresh herbs, it is worth taking care with the storage because fresh ingredients submerged in oil can create conditions in which Clostridium botulinum can grow. For that reason, homemade garlic or fresh-herb infused oils should not simply be stored at room temperature indefinitely.
For a longer-lasting pantry oil, dried ingredients such as dried chilli, dried herbs and peppercorns are a simpler option. If using fresh garlic or fresh herbs, keep the finished oil refrigerated and make small batches that will be used promptly.
About Victoria
For those of you that don’t already know, Victoria Twead is the author of the bestselling Old Fools series. If you haven’t read them yet – please do!
The lovely Victoria and I first met when she published her first book, Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools, which tells the story of her move to Spain with her husband Joe. I dropped her a message the same day I finished reading her first book, and we have been firm friends ever since.
She is also a client of our busy Gandy-Draper web design business and had a major upgrade of her website very recently!
You can find out more about Victoria, her books and her writing here:
Want more Spanish recipes? Here you go then!
Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.
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