This highly flavored oil will give your dishes a punch of finishing flavor and works great drizzled over pasta, potatoes, meat, and fish. I’ve created 2 variations:
1) Soft Herbs: such as parsley, cilantro/coriander, and watercress. These herbs have lots of chlorophyll which give a deep green color to the oil.
2) “Mediterranean” Herbs such as rosemary, sage, oregano, or thyme. These herbs are stronger tasting, but alone will not give a deep green color so they are combined with soft herbs in about a 70% soft herb/30% strong herb (by weight) blend.
This second variation also gives a great base to my Rosemary-Parmesan Tuiles.
Makes about 100 ml/3.5 fl oz (single filtering) or
50 ml/1.75 fl oz (double filtering)
INGREDIENTS
Option 1: Soft Herb Oil
- fresh parsley, cilantro/coriander, or watercress: about 100 g/3.5 oz
- neutral flavor oil (peanut, rapeseed, etc): about 175 ml/6 oz/0.75cup
Option 2: Mediterranean Herb Oil
- fresh parsley: about 70 g/2.5 oz
- fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, and/or oregano: about 30 g/1 oz, (throw away any hard stem parts)
- neutral flavor oil (peanut, rapeseed, etc): about 175 ml/6 oz/0.75cup
Equipment
- A blender to make the herb oil mixture
- muslin/cheese cloth for filtering + (optional) paper coffee filter for 2nd filtering/clarifying
STEPS
- Heat a wide saute pan over medium heat. Add all ingredients and heat for 7 minutes. This mixture should not come to a boil–turn down the heat as needed to keep at just a simmering level.
- Transfer all the contents to a blender and puree for 5-7 minutes, starting on the slowest speed, then gradually increasing. You may need to stop and push the mixture down in the container.
- While the herbs are blending, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl, then place a smaller metal bowl (to help with cooling) in the larger bowl.
- First Filtering: Place a sieve lined with with muslin cloth over the metal bowl in the ice bath and strain the herb mixture, and allow to fully drain without pressing (this may take 15-30 minutes).
- Second Filtering (optional): For a clearer oil, you can process one more step with a finer filter. Place a paper coffee filter over a tall glass and fold the top over the sides leaving the tip of the filter hanging at least halfway up. Pour the oil into the filter and place in the fridge for several hours, or ideally overnight. (For a finishing garnish that stands alone on the plate, I will add this step, but if I’m drizzling it over rice, pasta, potatoes, pizza, etc., I won’t bother.)
- Transfer the oil to an airproof container and store in the fridge for up to a week. (the solids go well in a morning omelette, or discard).