Today’s recipe began life as a way to use up garlic skins and herby leftovers, all of which contain a surprising amount of flavour, but it has evolved over time. Infused oil has countless uses – drizzle it over carpaccio, pasta or salad, use it to marinate meat, fish and vegetables, or simply as a dip for chunks of sourdough – and some of my favourites include lemon rind, garlic skin and rosemary; star anise, cacao and orange rind; and makrut lime leaf, lemongrass husk and coriander stems, which I found especially delicious drizzled over some noodles and pak choi. Freshly infused oils of this sort aren’t suitable for long storage, however, so use them up within a day to two.

Kitchen scrap-infused olive oil

As I look around my kitchen, I’ve got a two-year-old jar of remarkably tasty chillies gathering dust, a bowl of clementines (I think of citrus rinds as harbingers of incredible flavour, rich in essential oils and highly aromatic terpenes) and a small jar of long pepper, a pungent, complex spice that’s been sitting on my kitchen shelf for years without a purpose. When put together, however, and left to bubble gently on the hob, they fill my kitchen with a wildly aromatic and exotic aroma.

Like many of my recipes, this one is simply a starting point to provide a bump of inspiration for you to get inventive and creative in the kitchen. Dig around in your cupboards and see what flavours are hiding in there just waiting to be revealed.

Makes 250ml

Assorted kitchen scraps – skins and offcuts from garlic, onion skins, chilli seeds, the outer leaves of leeks, celery leaves, spring onion tops, unwaxed organic orange and lemon peel, a sprig of thyme or rosemary
1-2 tsp whole spices (eg, star anise, cloves, cardamom; optional)
250ml extra-virgin olive oil

Put a saucepan on a very low heat and add the kitchen scraps you’d like to infuse, ideally choosing a simple combination of two, three or four flavours that work well together, as well as the optional whole spices.

Pour over the extra-virgin olive oil and leave to heat up just until it begins to bubble gently. Keep the oil warm on the heat for about 15 minutes, to infuse without frying the solids, then take the pan off the heat and leave to cool. Decant into a clean bottle or jar (sieve the oil first, if you like) then seal and use immediately or refrigerate for up to two days (it will solidify slightly but will return to liquid at room temperature); alternatively, freeze for up to three months. Don’t be tempted to keep it longer, however, because it can become unsafe.