Circle B Kitchen
Recipe adapted from Peter Reinhart
This makes an amazingly tasty oil for drizzling on pizzas or cheesy crostini. It also makes a great dipping oil for focaccia or flatbreads. Once this is in your fridge, you'll find a million uses for it. Adjust the amount of crushed red pepper to make this as spicy (or not) as you'd like. The only deviation I made from the original recipe, which asked you to bring the olive oil to a boil, is to NOT bring the olive oil to a boil. That's a surefire way to burn your garlic and ruin the flavor of the oil. Just warm the oil to the point of an almost imperceptible simmer.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sweet or smoked paprika
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
Put all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a very low simmer over medium low heat (do not boil!). Reduce the heat even lower and continue to heat the oil on low for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 30 minutes before using. Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. After it's in the fridge for awhile, the oil will solidify so take it out of the fridge an hour or so before you plan to use it. Or you can run hot water over the jar or microwave it briefly to return it to a liquid.