Garlic Rosemary Olive Oil (aka Liquid Gold for Your Bread)

Let me guess. You’re standing in your kitchen, staring at a loaf of bread, feeling personally victimized by the sad little pat of butter in your fridge. Dana and I hit this exact wall about once a week. The fix isn’t butter. The fix is olive oil that tastes like it went to garlic finishing school.

This is a five-ingredient, zero-cooking, minimal-effort situation. You will look like you know what you’re doing. You do not need to know what you’re doing.

Why This Works

The trick isn’t just tossing garlic in oil and calling it a day. You’re making a garlic paste with kosher salt first — the salt acts like sandpaper for your knife, breaking the garlic down into something smooth instead of leaving you with angry little garlic chunks that bite back. Add rosemary, let it sit, and the oil pulls in all that flavor while you do literally anything else.

What You Need

• 1/4 cup olive oil (53 grams, for my fellow scale people)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, or 1 sprig fresh
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

That’s it. If your grocery list has more than five items on it, you’re overcomplicating your night.

How to Make It

Add the olive oil to a bowl. Groundbreaking, I know.

Mince the garlic on a cutting board. Add the kosher salt on top, then use the flat side of your knife to drag it across the garlic over and over until it turns into a paste. The salt is doing the hard work here — it’s basically garlic-flavored grit. Scrape the whole mess into the bowl with the oil.

Finely chop your rosemary, then add that in too. Mix it all together.

Now walk away. Let it rest while you make dinner, or your pizza, or whatever chaos is happening in your kitchen tonight. If you’re using dried rosemary instead of fresh, give it a full 30 minutes before you use it — the dried stuff needs longer to wake up and start working.

What to Do With It

Bread. Obviously bread. But this is also your secret weapon for white pizza — brush it on the crust before the cheese goes on and thank yourself later. Liam tried to convince me it was also good on popcorn. Jury’s still out on that one.

Garlic Rosemary Olive Oil

A simple, no-cook garlic and rosemary infused olive oil perfect for dipping bread or brushing onto white pizza before baking.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Resting Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 3

Course: Appetizer, Condiment

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• ¼ cup olive oil 53 g
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ tsp dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ? tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Equipment

• 1 cutting board
• 1 Chef's knife
• 1 Small mixing bowl

Method

 

1. Add the olive oil to a bowl.
2. Mince the garlic on a cutting board. Add the kosher salt, then drag the flat side of the knife across the garlic repeatedly to form a paste — the salt helps break it down.
3. Scrape the garlic paste into the bowl with the olive oil.
4. Finely chop the rosemary and add it to the bowl.
5. Mix everything together and let it rest while you finish your meal or prep your pizza. If using dried rosemary, let it sit at least 30 minutes before using.

Notes

Notes: Great for dipping bread or brushing onto white pizza before baking. Store any leftovers in the fridge and bring to room temp before using.

Make it. You can thank me later. — Rex