4 Ways With Olives

By MiNDFOOD

4 Ways With Olives

4 Ways With Olives

Diverse, delicious and distinct, the humble olive is one of the chameleons of the food world, able to be adapted into a variety of appetising recipes.

Here are four ways to get you started.

Infused Olives

To make your own homemade infused olives, place 500ml extra virgin olive oil, 2 green chillies, peeled skin of 3 lemons, 4 cloves peeled and sliced garlic, 2 to 3 sprigs rosemary, 1 teaspoon dill seeds, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon cardamom seeds, 4 fresh bay leaves, 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook for 5 minutes to release all the flavours. Place the olives into a large, clean jar. Pour the infused oil over to completely cover the olives and spices. Seal and set aside in a cool dry place to let the olives infuse with the flavours for up to a week.

 

Kalamata Olive Hummus

The Kalamata olive is a large, plump dark purple olive, which is named after the city of Kalamata in Greece. With their beautiful fruity flavour, they are the perfect pick with which to create a mouth-watering, crowd-pleasing hummus. In a food processor, combine a 400g can of drained chickpeas with 1⁄2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, 1⁄4 cup lemon juice, 1⁄4 cup tahini, 2 cloves peeled garlic, 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin, and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste and process until smooth. Add a little more oil to achieve desired consistency. This recipe will make 3 cups.

 

Green Olive & Feta Paste Canape

This quick and simple recipe is perfect for a dinner party or just when you feel like something a little fancy but delicious yourself. Remove the stones from a 500g jar of green olives. Place in a food processor or high- speed blender. Puree olives until smooth, adding a little olive oil. To the mixture, add 200g of feta cheese, 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Blend until well combined. Place paste in a serving bowl and accompany with toasted bread such as sourdough, ciabatta or baguettes, or the traditional French crudité to serve.

 

Green Olive White Anchovy Crumb Topping for Fish 

Blitz 4 slices wholegrain bread in a food processor and remove breadcrumbs to a bowl. In the same processor bowl, add about 100g pitted green olives, 6 white anchovy fillets, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 3 cloves of black or white garlic, 1⁄2 cup roughly chopped parsley. Blitz for 3 to 4 seconds until roughly combined. Add to crumb mixture and stir in 1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste. Cut 1kg of monkfish, or other firm white fish, into chunks. Place on a baking tray. Top each piece with a spoonful of the crumb. Bake in 200°C oven for 25 minutes or until fish is opaque.

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Print Recipe

BECOME A MiNDFOOD SUBSCRIBER TODAY

Let us keep you up to date with our weekly MiNDFOOD e-newsletters which include the weekly menu plan, health and news updates or tempt your taste buds with the MiNDFOOD Daily Recipe. 

Member Login