Garlic confit

A jar of confit garlic has become a real essential in the Great British Chefs kitchen. Take the time to make up a huge batch and it lasts for ages. It's also really versatile – spread it on crusty bread, blend through dips, dressings and pasta sauces or fold through mashed potato. The options are endless, and as a bonus by-product you are left with a delicious garlic-flavoured oil once you've finished.

Try out some flavourings if you fancy; woody herbs such as rosemary or thyme, spices such as peppercorns, star anise, fennel seeds or dried chilli, or even strips of lemon zest all add bags more flavour to both the cloves and the oil.

The ingredients here should be enough to fill a 300–400ml jar, but it does depend on the size of your cloves. Feel free to scale up or down the recipe to suit your requirements.