Dried Black Olives Recipes

OVEN-DRIED BLACK-OLIVE SEASONING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Arrange olives on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Cook until dried and crisp, about 3 hours. Let cool completely.
• Finely chop olives until almost powdery. Stir in sesame seeds and chile. Seasoning can be stored at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

ORZO WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND KALAMATA OLIVES

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• Mix orzo pasta, tomatoes, and olives together in a large bowl. Pour pesto over pasta mixture and stir to coat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the pasta mixture; stir. Drizzle olive oil over the salad and stir to achieve your preferred moisture level.

COUSCOUS WITH OLIVES AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO

Steps:

• Bring 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth and water to a boil in a saucepan, stir in couscous, and mix in salt and black pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes.
• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; stir in pine nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until pine nuts smell toasted and are golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan; cook and stir garlic and shallot in the hot oil until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir black olives and sun-dried tomatoes into garlic mixture and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Slowly pour in 1 cup vegetable broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce has reduced, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Transfer couscous to a large serving bowl, mix with sauce, and serve topped with parsley and pine nuts.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO, BLACK OLIVE AND MOZZARELLA ORZO GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a pot of boiling salted water cook the orzo until al dente and drain. Transfer to a large bowl. In a large skillet cook the onion and fennel in the butter over moderately low heat, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cream mixture, rosemary and salt and pepper and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes. Add the vegetables to the bowl containing the orzo and stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, olives, all but 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the mixture to a buttered 1-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

BLACK OLIVES WITH HARISSA

Steps:

• In a colander rinse olives under cold water 1 minute and in a large bowl cover with cold water. Soak olives 4 hours to remove excess salt and drain well.
• Make harissa: In a mortar with a pestle, an electric spice grinder, or a cleaned coffee grinder grind seeds fine. If using mortar and pestle, add chilies, garlic, and salt and pound to taste. If using a spice or coffee grinder, transfer seeds to a small food processor and add chilies, garlic, and salt. Grind mixture to a paste. Add pepper and oil and pound or purée to a coarse paste.
• In a large bowl stir together harissa and olives and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 6 hours or overnight. Olives may be prepared 1 week ahead and kept chilled, covered.
• Serve olives at room temperature.
• To roast peppers:
• Using a long-handled fork, char peppers over an open flame or on a rack set over an electric burner, turning, until skins are blackened, 4 to 6 minutes. (Or to broil peppers on rack of a broiler pan under a preheated broiler about 2 inches from heat, turning every 5 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes, or until skins are blistered and charred.) Transfer peppers to a bowl and let stand, covered, until cool enough to handle. Keeping peppers whole, peel them, starting at blossom end. Cut off pepper tops and discard seeds and ribs.

DRIED BEEF AND OLIVE DIP

Steps:

• Soften the cream cheese in the microwave 1 minute at a time on low setting, until it can be stirred.
• Finely chop the beef.
• Finely chop the olives and onion. (I use a hand chopper).
• Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl.
• Cover and let stand a few hours or overnight.
• Serve chilled, or at room temperature, with your favorite dip crackers.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND OLIVES

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook, turning until browned, about 5 minutes per side.
• Add garlic and shallots and cook 2 minutes.
• Pour wine over chicken, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add lemon, sun dried tomatoes, olives and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until chicken is tender.