This weekend Brian came home with a gigantic bag of Meyer lemons from his parent’s tree. Before he took them to a buddy at work who makes homemade Limoncello, I snagged a few for myself and decided to infuse some olive oil with the lemon rind.
Making your own flavor-infused olive oils is simple – so easy that I think I’m probably the last one to the party. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, and the final product has tons of uses. Use it in salad dressings or over the top of your favorite pasta dish. Last night I used it to brush chicken breasts before throwing them on the grill, and the oil added subtle, tasty flavor.
You could add chiles, peppercorns, garlic, or herbs to the oil too. Get creative! This would make a thoughtful homemade hostess gift as well.
Lemon-Infused Olive Oil
Serves: Makes 1 cup of flavored oil
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of your favorite olive oil – I used an inexpensive bottle from Trader Joe’s
- 1-2 tablespoons of Meyer lemon zest (about 2 medium lemons)
Directions:
Using a microplane or the finest grate of a box grater, zest two lemons being careful to only grate off the yellow part of the zest – the white pith is really bitter. Toss the zest and oil in a mason jar, shake and let it sit for 24-48 hours. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain out the bits of zest and you’ll be left with delicious lemony oil. Enjoy!
- Hill
Just made this! So excited to put it on whole wheat pasta with some parm!
This just made my day… my favorite dressings start with olive oil and lemon so this is taking it to the next level. Love it!