Piri Piri Oil Recipe

This weekend we are hosting our first supperclub which is pretty exciting. We don’t have much time for blogging so I thought I would quickly share this recipe as I have been yumming it up big time this week.

We made some Piri Piri Oil it for the dinner on Saturday to serve with our Portuguese menu. It may seem strange to be serving chilli oil with Mediterranean food but the Portuguese have been using spices in their food for centuries.

I had to make more because I have eaten so much of it & there was not enough left for the guests – bad form! Mainly it gives chilli heat to a dish but it is also aromatic with garlic & whisky. You can eat it on pretty much anything. I love it drizzled into soups, over grilled meats & I have been dipping a lot of bread in there. It would also make a great marinade.

The recipe does not require much time or effort so it is well worth a go if you like chilli. We used fresh Bird’s Eye & some dried ones which I brought back from Goa. It will be quite hot so if you prefer a milder flavour just use fewer chillies.

There is no need to use a very good olive oil. It should not be too highly flavoured so a mild, bog standard bottle from the supermarket is perfect.

Caldo Verde with a drizzle of piri piri oil

Please note it is a good idea to make this a few days before you want to use it as the flavour mellows & develops.

Ingredients:

4-6 fresh Piri Piri (Bird’s Eye) Chillies

8 Dried Piri Piri Chillies

3-4 garlic cloves

2 tbsp whisky

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

2-3 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

250ml olive oil (not to strong flavour, does not have to be top quality)

Preparation:

1. Make a paste from the fresh chillies & garlic in a food processor or pestle & mortar

2. Put the paste & whisky in a small sauce pan over a low heat

3. Zest the lemon & add that to the pan with the lemon juice, bay leaves, dried chillies, vinegar, salt & about 3 tbsp olive oil

4. Turn the heat up a little & get the mixture bubbling gently to roast out the garlic & chillies & cook off the alcohol, this should take 3-4 minutes

Make sure to cook out the garlic before adding the rest of the olive oil

5. When it is really fragrant take it off the heat & whisk in the rest of the olive oil.

That’s it. Keep the piri piri oil in a glass jar or bottle. The flavour mellows with time so eat it within a couple of months if you like it hot.

 

by Sally