This fairly well known dipping oil from the Carrabba’s® restaurant chain is great to serve with warm Italian, French, or Pita bread as an appetizer. I got one version of it from the Internet and it belonged in Food Nirvana simply because it was really good, especially after a few minor modifications.

Various recipes for other foods that use herbs call for heating them in a small amount of cooking oil to extract the oil soluble flavors. I added that approach to this recipe to amp up the herb tastes in the oil.

Recipes like this one lend themselves to many variations based on what each of us like best. I suggest starting with this recipe and then experimenting by varying the ingredient amounts to suit your taste.

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of dried rosemary

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon of granulated garlic

2 teaspoons of minced garlic cloves

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon (or fresh lime) juice

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat the mixture on very low heat with gentle stirring to keep the herbs from sticking to the saucepan, until the tiny pieces of minced garlic come to the surface sizzling. Then turn off the heat.

Dispense the saucepan contents into an 8 ounce canning jar and close it by screwing on a lid & ring. You can store it in a cupboard or food pantry as long as you use it within a week, otherwise refrigerate it, noting that you will have to microwave it later before using it to re-liquify the olive oil.

To serve the dipping oil remove the ring and lid and warm the oil and seasonings in the microwave oven for 30 seconds or until warm. Decant the entire contents into a shallow dipping bowl or a ramekin. Then serve the dipping oil with the herbs/seasonings along with warmed bread, or even crispy crusted warmed rolls.

I like to tear apart pieces of warmed pita bread to dip into the oil and herbs/seasonings mixture. That way I can scoop out small amounts of the herbs and seasonings with the oil, which tastes great!

This appetizer or snack goes very well with a nice glass of crisp chilled white wine like Pinot Grigio.

Yummy!