Name: Easy Garlic Confit
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Ingredients: 50 garlic cloves , peeled (1¼ cups), root ends trimmed; 1 teaspoon table salt; 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil

Why This Recipe Works

Garlic confit is slow-cooked, silky-smooth, spreadable garlic with subtle sweetness, nuttiness, and great depth. This recipe yields exactly that, with flavorful garlic-infused oil as a bonus. To get the best results as hands-off as possible, we simply seasoned the garlic with salt and covered it with extra-virgin olive oil before baking until the cloves were a beautiful golden brown color. We baked the garlic at a low temperature, 275 degrees, for just over an hour to allow the garlic to cook slowly and for thorough flavor development. (Please note that the garlic and oil must be stored separately for food safety.)

Before You Begin

Four to five heads of garlic will yield 50 cloves. You can also use prepeeled garlic, if preferred; look for prepeeled garlic in transparent packaging so that you can make sure it looks fresh. We prefer the fruity, complex flavor of extra-virgin olive oil here, but you can substitute vegetable oil or use a combination of olive and vegetable oils. We like to use this garlic confit and oil in our Garlic-Parmesan Dipping Oil.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Sprinkle 1¼ cups peeled garlic cloves, root ends trimmed, with 1 teaspoon table salt in 8-inch square baking dish. Add 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil and bake until garlic is golden brown and soft, 1 hour 5 minutes to 1¼ hours.

Remove baking dish from oven and let garlic cool in oil to room temperature, about 1 hour (garlic will darken slightly as it cools). Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic to airtight container. Strain oil through fine-mesh strainer into second airtight container. (Cooled garlic and oil can be refrigerated separately for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.)