This was so easy to do and the oils taste delicious immediately with no waiting. The bonus from this recipe is you also get a jar of caramelised garlic clove’s which you can add to sauces and salads to give them an extra kick of flavour. I would never waste money on buying flavoured oils ever again as they are so expensive and don’t taste anything like homemade. The other bonus of my flavoured oil recipes (chilli, thyme and rosemary recipes here) is I always make sure I use the correct process so the oils don’t produce bacteria and go off so they keep for months unless you use them up.

Ingredients

For the Garlic Oil

• 500ml good quality olive oil
• 2 heads of garlic, cut in half horizontally
• large sprig of thyme

For the Cracked Black Pepper

• 500ml good quality olive oil
• 1/2 pack or jar of black peppercorns

Method

Roasted Garlic Oil

1. Pre heat oven to 140 degree’s (fan).
2. Cut the whole garlic heads in half, horizontally across the middle.
3. Place the cut heads in a baking tray with the cut side facing down, add the thyme sprigs and pour over the olive oil.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.
5. Once cooked remove the garlic heads with tongs and any stray cloves, strain the oil through a sieve over a jug and pour into a sterilised bottle can use immediately.
6. For the caramelised cloves. Squeeze the cloves from skin pop into a sterilised jar and top with olive oil.

Cracked Black Pepper Oil

1. Tip the black peppercorns in a pestle and mortar, roughly grind the peppercorn’s.
2. Add the crushed peppercorn’s to a sterilised bottle and pour over the olive oil. Can use straight away.