This Ancient Roman dish makes the perfect appetizer. You can use the Tapenade, also known as Olive Paste, as a condiment, with pasta or as a spread. Be sure to try Olive Tapenade Palmiers.
Continue reading Olive TapenadeOlive Tapenade
Tag: Olive
Roasted Olives
These olives can be served warm as part of an antipasti or meze platter. Tip: Always buy whole olives and pit them yourself with an olive pitter.
500 ml brine-cured olives, rinsed and pitted
60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 ml crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 rosemary sprigs
- Preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
- Combine the ingredients in an 20 cm square baking dish, cover with foil and bake until fragrant and heated through – 20 to 30 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm as part of an antipasti platter or stir into cooked pasta, etc.
Recipe adapted from Sarah’s Cucina Bella.
Muffuletta Sandwich
The Muffaletta (moof-fuh-LEHT-tuh) also know simply as “muff”, is a classic New Orleans sandwich. It is the ultimate make-ahead sandwich and is super easy and convenient to make. Hollowed-out bread (authentic round muffaletta loaf or other Italian round bread) is filled with generous amounts of olive salad and a variety of cold cuts of meat, cheese and vegetables. A true Muffuletta Sandwich must always be served at room temperature.
Continue reading Muffuletta SandwichCiabatta With Variations
The most effortless recipe for home-made Italian bread. Ciabatta literally means “slipper” in Italian, so keep this in mind when shaping the bread! The bread is deliciously hard and crisp served soon after baking but may be enjoyed within a day or frozen, thawed and reheated.
Continue reading Ciabatta With VariationsOlive Tapenade Palmiers
A palmier (French for “palm tree”), is a French pastry that gets its name from its resemblance to a palm leaf. It is also known as elephant ear, palm leaves, French hearts, palmeritas (Spanish). It is made from puff pastry, so it is crispy and flaky. The traditional sweet palmier is coated with sugar, but a variety of savoury fillings ranging from olive tapenade to sundried tomato paste, to basil pesto, can also be used. Palmiers are made by folding the left and right sides of the pastry to the middle, then folding the dough in half again length-wise, sandwiching the first folds inside. Sliced into individual cookies, this is what gives the palmiers their distinctive “palm” or elephant-ear shape. You can also roll the sides of the puff pastry toward the middle, making even more layers and giving the palmiers a more rounded look.
Continue reading Olive Tapenade PalmiersChicken Puttanesca
This tangy, somewhat salty Italian pasta dish has ingredients that are typical of Southern Italian cuisine: tomatoes, olive oil, anchovies, olives, olive oil, capers and garlic. Traditionally, the sauce is served with spaghetti, although it also goes well with penne, tagliatelli, linguine and even rice.
salt and pepper to season the chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 100 g each)
olive oil to fry
125 ml white wine or chicken stock
2 medium onions, peeled and finely diced
200 g cherry tomatoes, halved
30 ml tomato paste
10 ml crushed garlic
15 black olives, pitted
15 ml capers
30 ml basil, finely chopped fresh
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- Brush the chicken breasts lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat and then sear the chicken breasts on both sides until nicely colored and almost done. Transfer to a plate.
- Add half of the white wine or chicken stock to the hot saucepan to deglaze – scrape any bits of chicken that may have stuck on the bottom.
- Add the chopped onions and cook until the onions are translucent and soft – about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Season with some salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy.
- Stir well and add the other half of white wine and cook covered with a lid for about 7 to 8 minutes until the tomatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened.
- Stir in the the olives, capers and minced garlic, and cook for another couple minutes.
- Add the chicken breasts into the saucepan. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes covered, or until the chicken breasts are thoroughly cooked.
- Sprinkle with the chopped basil and serve either with pasta of your choice or rice.
Photo credit: https://www.deliciousmeetshealthy.com
Olive Salad
Olive Salad is one of the key ingredients in the Muffaletta sandwich, a make-ahead sandwich that consists of a round loaf of broad which is filled with cold cuts of meat, cheese, vegetables and olive salad. It tastes just as great served as a relish with braaied meat, etc.
200 g green olives, drained, pitted and coarsely-chopped
200 g Kalamata olives, drained, pitted and coarsely-chopped
10 ml crushed garlic
1 anchovy fillet, mashed
15 ml capers, drained and rinsed
15 ml red wine vinegar
15 ml fresh lemon juice
60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
60 ml parsley, finely-chopped
freshly ground black pepper
- To make the olive salad, combine all the ingredients and then allow the flavors to mingle for at least 1 hour prior to serving.
- Store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use as one of the fillings of the Muffaletta sandwich.
Olive Corn Fritters
Corn fritters are part and parcel of New Zealand’s favourite everyday food and served in Cafés all day long. Enriching these favourite fritters with additional vegetables and cheese turns them into a most nutritious and tasty light meal or in between snack.
375 ml self-raising flour
1 ml salt
a good grinding black pepper
a good dash garlic and herb seasoning
250 ml whole kernel corn
125 ml black olives, pitted
125 ml grated baby marrow (zucchini)
125 ml grated cheese
30 ml spring onion, snipped
3 large eggs
250 ml milk
To cook
olive or sunflower oil to grease the non-stick frying pan
To serve
natural yoghurt or sour cream or
sweet chilli sauce or
salad garnish such as avocado, tomato or cucumber or
grilled bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms
- Place the flour, seasoning, corn, olives, baby marrow, cheese and spring onion in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine evenly and make a well in the centre.
- Add the eggs and milk and mix gently until blended.
- Brush a non-stick pan with olive oil and heat to medium hot.
- Spoon the mixture into the pan and spread out into a neat circle about 1 cm thick.
- Cook until light golden brown on both sides.
- Serve warm or cold with variable ingredients listed above.
Servings: 8 large or 12 – 16 small fritters
Note
1. The corn may be canned and drained, frozen or fresh
2. The baby marrow/zucchini can be substituted wtih chopped fresh spinach.
3. The cheese used may be Edam, Cheddar or Mozzarella
Recipe by Carolié de Koster.
Olive & Eggplant Dipping Sauce
This tasty sauce can be served as a dipping sauce with crudités, crisps, bruschetta or fresh bread. It can also be mixed with cooked pasta!
2 large aubergines/eggplants/brinjals
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped (optional)
125 ml spring onion, finely sliced
5 to 10 ml crushed garlic
180 ml olive oil
125 ml black olives, drained and pitted
30 ml parsley, finely chopped
30 ml basil leaves, finely chopped
2.5 ml sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
100 to 200 ml plain yoghurt or crème fraîche (optional)
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 °C.
- Line a baking tray with a Wizbake baking sheet and set it aside.
- Peel the aubergines and slice into 1 cm thick slices.
- Transfer the aubergine slices to the prepared baking tray and brush each slice on both sides with olive oil.
- Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the aubergines halfway through the cooking time.
- Set the aubergine slices aside to cool.
- To skin the tomatoes, fill a medium saucepan half full with water and bring it to a boil.
- Fill a medium mixing bowl half full with water and add some ice cubes. Set the bowl aside.
- Slice a shallow X into the bottom of the tomato (opposite the stem side).
- Place the tomatoes into the boiling water and for about 30 seconds or until you see the X begin to split open wider.
- Transfer the tomatoes to the bowl of ice water and let them cool off. This will help to stop any “cooking” that has started.
- Remove the tomatoes from the ice water and place them on a chopping board.
- Begin peeling the skin at the X, pulling the skin back gently towards the stem side.
- Discard the skin and quarter the tomatoes. Remove the seeds and transfer it to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the cooled aubergine to the food processor and set it aside.
- Transfer 5 ml of the olive oil to a saucepan and stir-fry the spring onion and garlic in the heated oil for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the spring onion mixture to the food processor.
- Add the olives, parsley, basil, sugar, salt and pepper to the food processor and process with the pulse action until smooth and blended.
- Stir in a tablespoon of yoghurt or crème fraîche if you like a creamier dip.
- Spoon into a serving dish and serve as a dipping sauce with crudités, crisps, bruschetta or fresh bread.
