Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

I am what you might call, “supremely NOT GOOD at keeping plants alive”.  Unless they are of the very hardy variety.  Like, essentially, the cats of the household plant community.  I need a plant that says, “Hey….just water me.  Like…when you remember.  It’s cool.”  That’s why THIS is our garden:

A rosemary bush, and a cactus.  Oh, and there’s a bamboo and some green onions in the windowsill of our kitchen.  See what I mean?  Like literally…just some water about once a week.

And I LOVELOVELOVE my rosemary bush.  Bought it over the summer for about $5 from the local nursery.  It’s so amazingly fragrant.  I barely brush up against a stem while watering it, and I smell rosemary on my hands for the rest of the day.  WHY is there not a rosemary scented perfume?  Seriously.

And a little while back, my mom found some miscellaneous glass bottles at the thrift store, because I told her I was wanting to try infusing some olive oils.  So here was my first project.

INGREDIENTS:

Olive Oil

2-3 sprigs rosemary

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

 

DIRECTIONS:

In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil over low heat (just helps the oil to absorb more of the rosemary flavor) for about 5 minutes.

While that’s going, wash your rosemary sprigs & them dry completely.

Place the rosemary & crushed red pepper in the bottle you’ll be using.

Oooooohh, artsy…

Pour the olive oil into your bottle and then let sit for a couple days.  The flavor will increase over time.  Store in a cool dry area, away from the sun (like a vampire).

A few ideas for using your olive oil?

1. Drizzle over spaghetti & add some grated Parmesan cheese. (Heck, toss some more fresh chopped rosemary on there too, if you feel so moved.)

2. Pour into a small bowl, add some minced garlic and a dash of Parm.  Maybe even some balsamic vinegar.  Dip yer bread into it. (DON’T try infusing the garlic in with the rosemary.  Garlic gets some nasty bacterial issues if it’s not properly refrigerated.)

3. Use for sautéing veggies for some extra flavor.

4.  Make some fresh pizza dough, and lightly coat the exterior of the dough in this before rolling out to keep it from sticking to your pan, while also adding some extra flavor.