How to infuse oils in your Thermomix

It’s summer here in France and despite a relative lack of rain for about a month, my garden is going wild. Having planted loads of herbs in the herb bed and not having used enough of them in my cooking, my basil has gone to flower. Never mind, I’ll use the lovely flowers to make Basil-infused Olive Oil.

“Oh, really?” I hear you say. “Yes!” I reply back. It’s just another thing your Thermomix and its controlled temperatures can help you do. And it’s really, really simple. This time I used basil flowers – Thai basil, purple basil and regular green basil – for superbly delicious results. Each type of basil was in a separate bottle, I did not mix them, but you certainly can. In the past have used tarragon leaves, rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme… whatever you have, whatever flavours you like, whatever you think you’ll use the oil for, just go for it!

And oh, yes, if you find some pretty bottles and make your own tags or labels, Herb-Infused Oils make fantastic gifts from your garden!

How to infuse oils in your Thermomix
Infusing oils with herbs and herb flowers is fast and easy in your Thermomix, thanks to its controlled temperature heating, timed processing and constant stirring. Use a good extra virgin olive oil and the taste of both the oil and the herbs will come through. (If you don’t like or don’t use olive oil, any kind of oil will work also, such as sunflower oil, rice bran oil, rapeseed oil, etc.) The amounts needed will depend on how many bottles you have and what size they are. In this example I had 6, 250-ml bottles, 1 litre of oil and a few handfuls of basil flowers.

Ingredients
Any size sealable glass bottles (I had 6 x 250-ml bottles)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or other oil of choice (I used 1 L)
herbs or herb flowers, several stalks per bottle depending on size (I had a few handfuls of 3 types of basil flowers), rinsed and dried on kitchen roll or in a tea towel

Method

1. Clean and sterilise your bottles and the lids or tops, and leave to air dry. (You can sterilise in the Varoma on full steam, or in the oven for dry heat – which would be better in this case, as we all know that “oil and water don’t mix.” And be careful not to put rubber seals in the oven to sterilise, take it from me, they melt!!)
2. Add your olive oil to the TM bowl and programme 50° C/15 minutes/Speed Spoon and let your oil come to temperature while you stuff your bottles with herbs. If you don’t finish before the time is up, just bung it on for another 50° C/15 minutes/Speed Spoon.
3. Stuff your bottles with herbs or herb flowers. I put about 6 stalks per 250-ml bottle but you will use your judgement depending on how intense a flavour you want and on the size of your bottles. (I was surprised to see that 1L of oil filled 6 x 250ml bottles – 1.5L total volume – but that of course was because the basil flowers took up lots of space! I also used only one kind of basil in each bottle but you can always make up mixtures of herbs according to your own taste.)
4. Using a funnel, carefully fill your bottles with your heated oil, close the lids or tops and let the oil infuse for at least 2 days before gifting or using.

Bon appétit !

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What herbs have you infused into oils? What flavour combinations have you created?

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