This recipe uses the simplest of summer ingredients but has tons of flavor. It’s completely elevated with garlic confit oil (a recipe in the Infuse cookbook from my friends at W&P Design). I love the book because it’s all about using really simple ingredients to infuse oils, waters, and spirits, which in turn transforms the simplest of dishes into something much greater. The garlic confit oil used here is infused with fragrant roasted garlic – it’s completely addictive and I’ve been drizzling it on just about everything all week!

Ingredients
Serves 2
  • 1 quart of mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
  • garlic confit oil + a couple roasted garlic cloves smashed in
  • 5 large basil leaves, julienned
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • Salt + pepper to taste
  • 2 zucchinis, spiralized or peeled with a julienne peeler

For the Garlic Confit Oil

  • 1 head of garlic
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 5 whole black peppercorns
  • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Method

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Rinse the head of garlic and cut off the top, exposing the cloves. Season the exposed edges with salt and pepper and place facedown in a deep baking dish.

Add the olive oil, peppercorns, and fresh thyme to the baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and roast for one hour. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes, covered.

Uncover and remove the garlic, placing on a towel to drain. Strain the oil through cheesecloth and into an 8 oz Mason jar, adding one fresh sprig of thyme.

Squeeze the cloves of garlic from the head and add them to the Mason jar. The infusion and roasted garlic cloves will keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Note: Don’t let the roasted garlic cloves in this infusion go to waste! Use them along side the infused oil. They have an amazing caramelized, umami-packed richness!