PILI PILI (SPICY HERB OIL)

Pili Pili (Spicy Herb Oil) image

This spicy oil with an African name is popular throughout Provence. It's usually on the table in pizzerias for drizzling, but it's also terrific drizzled over vegetables, grilled meats or fish, grains and bread - whatever you want to add a kick to. In France it is made with very hot bird chilies. You could use fresh Thai chilies for this, but I'm using dried chiles de arbol, because that's what I have on hand and it makes an oil that will last for months.

Provided by Martha Rose Shulman

Categories condiments

Time 15m

Yield 1 to 1.25 cups oil

Number Of Ingredients 7

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Ingredients

2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
12 whole small dried red chili peppers or Japanese chilies, or about 8 chiles de arbol, broken in half, or 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 to 1 1/4 cups olive oil (does not need to be extra virgin), or a combination of olive oil and grapeseed oil, as needed

Steps:

Place the herbs, chiles and oil in a medium saucepan and heat slowly over low heat until they begin to sizzle. If you insert a thermometer, the temperature should not go above 220ºF. Turn off the heat and wait for the oil to stop sizzling, then cover and allow to cool.
Transfer the herbs and chiles to a clean, sterilized bottle (you may need to use a funnel to do this neatly). Pour on the olive oil. Close tightly and allow to stand in a dark, cool place for a week to mature.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 1060, UnsaturatedFat 91 grams, Carbohydrate 23 grams, Fat 109 grams, Fiber 5 grams, Protein 5 grams, SaturatedFat 15 grams, Sodium 25 milligrams, Sugar 13 grams