Ingredients

• Plenty of garlic

Soaking Garlic before peeling

This only makes sense if you do it in one big batch. The bright side is, that it’ll last for weeks. I’d use a minimum of around 6-8 garlic bulbs. Remove all of the cloves from the root and transfer them unpeeled to a large bowl. Then cover entirely in cold water and let them soak for 1 hour. The water will dissolve the sticky layer between the skin and the clove and the peel will come off much easier.

Frozen Garlic Cubes

Once you’ve peeled all of your garlic from above, transfer the cloves to a food processor (I use Ninja) and blend them into a smooth purée, scraping down the sides every now and then. Then divide the garlic purée over ice cube trays and pop them in the freezer. Next time you need a serious amount of garlic, just add one of the garlic cubes to the hot pan and let it dissolve and fry in some oil before adding any liquid ingredients.

Crushing Garlic with a knife

This is separate to the hacks above. It doesn’t buy you time, but maximum flavour. Instead of finely chopping your garlic, we’ll turn it into a paste that dissolves beautifully when heated or spreads evenly when added to dips like guacamole. Start by peeling the garlic clove, then make vertical incisions while keeping the root attached to hold the slices together. Now slice horizontally, still leaving the root intact. Now finely dice the garlic. Add a sprinkle of salt, which will work as an abrasive and break down the garlic. Then use the flat side of your knife and spread the garlic across the board for around 1 minute until it turns into a paste.