Garlic confit is a great pantry staple and very easy to make. It can be used to flavour mashed potatoes, stirred into soup or simply spread on a piece of toasted baguette. The garlic confit can be stored in the fridge for about a month (completely submerged in the oil) and the oil can be used for other purposes, for instance dressings.
Ingredients for the garlic confit:
About 45 peeled garlic cloves (roughly equal in size)
About 500 ml rapeseed oil
Preparing the garlic confit:
Place the peeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 2 cm. Make sure that none of the garlic cloves are poking through the oil, if necessary add more oil.
Place the saucepan over medium-low heat. If you have a gas burner use a diffuser to lower the heat. The garlic should cook very gently, look out for very small bubbles in the oil.
Cook for about 40 minutes and give the cloves a stir every 5 minutes or so. After 40 minutes pick up one of the cloves with your spoon and pierce it with a paring knife, it should be completely tender if they are done.
Remove from the heat and let the garlic cool in the oil.
Transfer to a jar and poor over the oil, make sure that the garlic confit is submerged in the oil. Refrigerate for up to one month.