Homemade chilli oil / Huile pimentée maison

Along with the garden tomatoes our green-thumbed friends were kind enough to give us these gorgeous sweet red peppers. After grilling several and chopping them into my homemade pasta sauce, there were still several chillies left over so I decided to give my own chilli oil a go. I love spicy food and this oil can be used afterwards to cook a steak, spice up a pizza or even give a bit of peps to a salad. 

Much cheaper than the overpriced chilli oils available in the supermarket, it was really easy to make too! Cut the stalks off the chillies and crush them gently with a rolling pin to break the skins and release their flavour. Pop them in an empty glass bottle and cover with olive oil. At this stage you can add dried herbs, peppercorns or other types of chilli if you want to experiment. However, as this was my first time I decided to play it simple! The hardest bit to this recipe is waiting while the oil impregnates with the flavour of the chilli...a whole two months before I can taste it!