Garlic Confit
By Annie PetitoPublished on September 5, 2019
Time
1 hour
Yield
Serves 4 to 6 (makes about ½ cup)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
If you can find prepeeled garlic, use it for this recipe. Two heads of garlic yield about 30 cloves. Use a small, deep saucepan to ensure that the garlic is submerged; don't worry if the garlic floats as it cooks. For food safety reasons, use a clean spoon when dipping into the cooked garlic and oil, and store the cooked garlic separately from the oil. Stir the confit into mashed potatoes or pasta, spread it on bread for sandwiches, or puree it into dips or dressings.
Instructions
- Combine oil and garlic in small saucepan (garlic should be just submerged. If not, add extra oil to cover). Bring to bare simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low so tiny bubbles surround garlic, but garlic is not actively frying. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is soft and pale tan, 30 to 35 minutes longer. (Garlic should be soft enough to smear on plate with back of spoon.)
- Off heat, let garlic cool in oil for at least 15 minutes (garlic will darken slightly as it cools). Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to airtight container. Strain oil through fine-mesh strainer into separate airtight container and reserve for another use. (Once completely cooled, refrigerate garlic for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months. Refrigerate oil for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.)
Time
1 hourYield
Serves 4 to 6 (makes about ½ cup)Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
For silky, spreadable, nutty-sweet garlic, we prefer garlic confit—a preparation that calls for gently heating peeled cloves in oil—to roasting whole heads of garlic. Preparing garlic confit is faster than roasting because oil transfers heat more efficiently than air. All the cloves get equal exposure to the hot oil, so they soften and color evenly. Cooking whole peeled cloves also saved us the step of squeezing the cloves out of sticky skins after cooking, and no garlic was wasted by being lopped off or left behind in the bulb. The resulting garlic confit—and the flavorful oil it produced—was ready to be used in countless applications.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
If you can find prepeeled garlic, use it for this recipe. Two heads of garlic yield about 30 cloves. Use a small, deep saucepan to ensure that the garlic is submerged; don't worry if the garlic floats as it cooks. For food safety reasons, use a clean spoon when dipping into the cooked garlic and oil, and store the cooked garlic separately from the oil. Stir the confit into mashed potatoes or pasta, spread it on bread for sandwiches, or puree it into dips or dressings.
Instructions
- Combine oil and garlic in small saucepan (garlic should be just submerged. If not, add extra oil to cover). Bring to bare simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low so tiny bubbles surround garlic, but garlic is not actively frying. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is soft and pale tan, 30 to 35 minutes longer. (Garlic should be soft enough to smear on plate with back of spoon.)
- Off heat, let garlic cool in oil for at least 15 minutes (garlic will darken slightly as it cools). Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to airtight container. Strain oil through fine-mesh strainer into separate airtight container and reserve for another use. (Once completely cooled, refrigerate garlic for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months. Refrigerate oil for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.)
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