Rosemary and Peppercorn Olive Oil

An easy infused olive oil that is great for making salad dressing, a delicious marinade, or a flavorful dipping sauce

My extended family shares a beautiful old house on Mobile Bay.

It's an amazing house with wrap-around porches, the most perfect oak tree framing the yard, a long wharf protruding out into the bay waiting for people to enjoy, tons of twin beds, and sinks in bedrooms.

It exudes Southern charm and nostalgia. Just look at those porches... that tree!

I look forward to staying there for a weekend or two every year.

We bask in the sun on the wharf, fly kites on the beach, relax on the porch, play dominoes in the dining room, and I force everyone to eat my food and alcoholic beverages.

Countless hours have been spent in the kitchen, many of which involved late night dance parties and singing the Mamas and the Papas {I come from a family of Oldies-lovers}.

It is shared between over 20+ families, so everyone is in charge of bringing their own food, drinks, condiments, staples, etc.

If you are the last one in your family to lock up, you must be sure to take everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything - ketchup, salt, butter, water, ice cream. Nothing can be left.

It takes almost two days to move out but if you're lucky, you'll end up with some goodies.

A few years ago, we were cleaning out the cabinets, and I found some rosemary infused olive oil that I assume my aunt or uncle brought to the house. It's long since been used, but I still think about that infused olive oil.

When I decided to do my homemade Christmas gifts, I knew that infused olive oil would be a definite on the list.

I toyed with the idea of doing rosemary and garlic but I decided against that seeing as how I wanted this to be oh so easy and not cause any stress. Burning/overcooking garlic can cause stress especially when you ruin a liter of extra virgin olive oil.

Rosemary and Peppercorn Olive Oil is fan-freakin-tabulous and worth every second it takes to make {between 5-10 minutes to produce something so incredible}.

It's great for making salad dressing, a delicious marinade, and a flavorful dipping sauce.

You want to make sure that you get a good quality olive oil. If you are making a lot of gifts, you can buy in bulk and save a good bit. I bought mine from World Market and thought their olive oil was pretty tasty. I also bought my bottles from World Market. Side note: I love World Market.

Another thing to do is be sure that you dry the rosemary really well. Like another recipe suggested, I washed it then put it in the oven to dry; that was a total mistake. The second go-round, I just let it dry on the counter overnight and that was much better.

To make two 550mL bottles of Rosemary Peppercorn Infused Olive Oil, here's what you do:

• Wash the bottles & wash the rosemary. Let dry overnight.
• Put a few sprigs of rosemary and one teaspoon of peppercorns in the bottles and set aside {if you want to write on the bottles, do that now. I just used a permanent marker. It can easily rub off so if you make a mistake, you can start over. But be careful not to touch the writing so it doesn't come off}.
• Put the remaining sprigs of rosemary in a saucepan and add one tablespoon of peppercorns. Pour in 1 liter or about 32 ounces. Heat over medium low for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Pour over a strainer and strain oil. Pour the cooled & strained olive oil into the bottles. Put the top on and let sit in fridge for at least 4 days before using.

I prefer to keep mine in the refrigerator so it doesn't spoil. Keeping it in the fridge will make it look a little cloudy but just bring it to room temp before using and it'll go back to normal.

The olive oil will taste best if given at least 1 to 2 weeks to infuse. Just let your recipient know that. But I thought it was delicious after two days of infusion so don't feel like you don't have enough time to make this.

Honestly, this is one of the easiest but nicest looking gifts to give someone, I think {and won't cost you a pretty penny}. It's healthful, delicious, useful, and doesn't need to be consumed by the end of the holidays. All wins in my book, so I am keeping one for myself 🙂

Rosemary Peppercorn Olive Oil

An easy infused olive oil that is great for making salad dressing, a delicious marinade, or a flavorful dipping sauce

5 from 9 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Infusion Time: 4 days

Total Time: 4 days 20 minutes

Servings: 1 liter

Author: Meme

Ingredients

• ▢ 8-10 sprigs fresh rosemary washed and well dried
• ▢ 4 teaspoons whole peppercorns
• ▢ 1 Liter extra virgin olive oil about 32 ounces

Instructions

• In each bottle, put a few sprigs of rosemary and one teaspoon of peppercorns in the bottle and set aside {if you want to write on the bottles, do that now. I just used a permanent marker. It can easily rub off so if you make a mistake, you can start over. But be careful not to touch the writing so it doesn't come off}.
• Put the remaining sprigs of rosemary in a saucepan and add remaining one tablespoon of peppercorns. Pour in olive oil. Heat over medium low for 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool. Pour over a strainer and strain oil.
• Pour the cooled & strained olive oil into the bottles. Put the top on and let sit for at least 4 days before using.

Notes

*You can use it in salad dressing, in hummus and for drizzling. It can be used it to roast vegetables as long as you aren’t roasting at too high of heat since olive oil has a lower smoke point. 

*Adapted from a recipe from Pepper Design Blog

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment & recipe rating below. Bonus points for tagging @memeinge & #livingwellkitchen on Instagram! THANK YOU! xo

Meme