Confit is a traditional French method of cooking food in fat, oil, or a water syrup at a low temperature. It was traditionally used as a preservation method — in fact, it is one of the oldest ways of preserving food!
It differs from deep-frying as the temperature is much lower and confit ingredients are cooked for a lot longer (hours instead of minutes). When you think of deep-frying, you might think of the crispy exterior of chicken wings, tempura, or French fries. This happens because the temperature of the oil is so hot that it causes excessive evaporation around the exterior of the object being fried. With the confit method, however, the temperature of the cooking liquid is not hot enough to do that. Instead, moisture is preserved and you are left with a tender, soft, and spreadable food.
This vegetarian (actually vegan!) confit is one of my favourite things to make for the week ahead. It requires minimal effort and can be used in a variety of ways. Cherry tomatoes taste like sundried tomatoes, the leeks are addictively sweet, and the garlic is roasted perfection. All of them can be shmeared on crusty bread (with or without cheese) for a quick and delicious meal. The oil, which picks up the taste of the vegetables and herbs, can be drizzled onto salad for an easy salad dressing. The veg and oil can be tossed with some pasta and goat cheese for a no-fuss weekday meal. The applications are endless!
There’s no need to formally measure out ingredients for this. All you have to do is make sure your vegetables are fully submerged in a good-quality olive oil — not necessarily the best one you have, but something that you would normally drizzle on a salad and not just use for cooking. The better your olive oil tastes, the better your confit will taste. Patience is also necessary for this recipe — low and slow is the key.
Can be stored in a sterilized jar at room temp for a few days. Can store in the fridge for months, if you don’t eat it before then! I normally keep a large batch in the fridge, but spoon just a little bit into a smaller container that I keep at room temp, so that they oil remains liquid.
INGREDIENTS
1 pack cherry tomatoes
1 head garlic (smoked garlic also works), cloves taken apart and peeled
1 small leek or 1/2 large leek, sliced into 0.5cm-1cm medallions
A few sprigs of thyme
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 176°C (350°F),
- Fill a shallow baking dish with vegetables — I like to alternate layers of tomatoes, leeks, and thyme, with garlic cloves filling any gaps. Leave about 3 cm from top of baking dish.
- Cover everything with olive oil, making sure everything is submerged.
- Keep in oven for 2h, until garlic has turned golden. Top layer may blacken, but don’t panic! The confit will taste sweet and delicious.
- Once ready, take out of oven and let cool completely. Store in sterilized sealable jars.
- Enjoy!