Wild Garlic Oil
I’m in wild garlic heaven at the moment. I’ve already made wild garlic & cheddar biscuits twice, eaten my weight in wild garlic pesto, and have some pickled wild garlic buds resting in the fridge. Another quick way to include wild garlic in your cooking, is to whip up some wild garlic oil to use in salads, drizzle on pasta, or add an extra punch to soup.
Ingredients
- 100g wild garlic leaves
- 200g sunflower oil or rapeseed oil
- a pinch of salt
You could also use olive oil, but not extra virgin as it has too strong a flavour. You will also need a blender or blender stick; a sieve lined with a muslin cloth (or a jelly bag will work too); and a sterilised bottle that holds at least 250ml.
Directions
Wash the garlic leaves to remove any dirt.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, submerge the garlic leaves in the boiling water for 30 seconds.
Drain and immediately run under cold water to stop the leaves cooking any further.
Squeeze out the excess water by wrapping the garlic leaves in a clean tea towel and wringing it out.
Roughly chop the garlic leaves, sprinkle with the salt, and add to your blender or whatever bowl you use if using a blender stick.
Add a little of the oil and start blending, then gradually keep adding the oil and keep blending for around 2 minutes until the oil turns bright green.
Place a sieve lined with muslin over a bowl, and pour in the oil mixture. Alternatively, if you have a jelly bag you can set up to strain the oil mixture. Either way, leave the mixture to strain for at least an hour.
Once strained, fill the oil into a sterilised bottle. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
By the way, don’t throw away the pulp that’s left behind from the straining, it still has lots of flavour. It’s great for throwing in to a blended soup. If you are not going to use the pulp straight away, you can also freeze it.
