Green Olives Recipes

HOW TO USE UP OLIVES

Steps:

• Spicy tomato pasta Jazz up a ready-made tomato and chilli pasta sauce by throwing in black olives, capers and chopped anchovy fillets. Stir through long, thin pasta and sprinkle with chopped basil.
• Quick savoury dip Create a quick tapenade by finely chopping pitted olives and a little garlic. Process until smooth, season, then add olive oil to loosen and lemon juice to taste.
• Crispy bruschetta For a summery bruschetta, crush black olives and cherry tomatoes, and spread onto toasted ciabatta rubbed with garlic. Top with peppery rocket leaves, drizzle with oil and season.
• Simple chicken dish Make a marinade with sliced olives, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and seasoning. Coat chicken thighs and leave for 15 mins. Put in a roasting dish with lemon quarters and rosemary leaves. Roast at 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 for 20 mins. Turn and roast for another 15 mins or until cooked through. Serve with the lemons and juices sprinkled over.
• Mediterranean salad Throw together a quick salad with a bag of baby salad leaves tossed with a light dressing. Add cubes of feta, olives and SunBlush tomatoes. Serve with focaccia or other country bread.
• Easy stuffed tomatoes For an easy, prepare-ahead starter or light lunch, stuff scooped-out tomatoes with cooled, cooked rice flavoured with minced garlic, sliced green olives, chopped tomato, lemon juice, and chopped herbs, such as basil or flat-leaf parsley.
• Mayonnaise with a twist Pit and chop olives, add to ready-made mayonnaise, season and add a splash of lemon juice. Mix well before using as a dip for raw vegetables, or spread in a sandwich with salad leaves and ham or salami.
• Chunky veggie sauce Make a rich and chunky sauce using aubergines, red onion, garlic, courgettes, red pepper and a can of chopped tomatoes. Throw in a handful of olives - great as a side dish or stirred through pasta.
• Quick summer tarts Cut 2 circles from a sheet of puff pastry to make quick pizza bases. Score a border 1cm from the edge, then cover with ready-caramelised onions from a jar or ready-roasted red peppers, and sliced tomatoes. Top with black olives, and anchovy fillets before cooking for 15 mins at 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
• Main-meal salad Lightly dress salad leaves and arrange on a plate. Top with cooked and cooled French beans and baby new potatoes, black olives, halved cherry tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters and tinned tuna chunks. Season before serving.

CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Put oil in deep skillet or casserole. Turn heat to medium-high and wait a minute, until oil is hot. Add chicken, skin-side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning pieces as necessary and sprinkling with salt and pepper as they cook; 10 to 15 minutes total. Turn heat to medium, remove chicken and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat.
• Add onion, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon or more of pepper and some salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until onion softens. Add stock and raise heat to medium-high; return chicken to pan, skin-side up. Cook at a lively simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add olives and continue to cook until chicken is done, another 10 to 15 minutes or so. Add lemon juice, then taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish and serve.

SPICED GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• In a 2-cup decorative jar make layer of 1/2 cup of the olives, top it with 3 slices of the lemon, and sprinkle the lemon with a third of the coriander seeds and a third of the peppercorns. Make 2 more layers in the same manner, pour the oil into the jar, and chill the olives for 2 weeks. The olives keep for several months, chilled. Serve the olives at room temperature as an hors d'oeuvre or as a garnish for salads.

MARINATED GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Crush the fennel and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar (or crush with the flat side of a knife and give them a bit of a chop). Chop the chillies into smallish pieces.
• Discard the flesh of the preserved lemon and rinse the skin to remove excess salt. Cut into fine strips (or zest the lemon - but the preserved lemon is so much better!).
• drain the olives and give them a rinse off in water.
• Place the olives in a clean jar and add the remaining ingredients. Cover with olive oil and leave to marinate.
• I have left them as little as a couple of hours and up to a few weeks. Pop them in the fridge, but bring back to room temperature before serving.

CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Pat chicken dry.
• Add to skillet and brown well on all sides.
• Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and season to taste.
• Cook 2 minutes.
• Pour in wine and cook until evaporated.
• Blend in tomato paste and paprika.
• Reduce heat to low.
• Add broth; cover and cook 15 minutes.
• Add olives and cook until chicken is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Garnish with parsley.
• Great served with egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

MACARONI SALAD WITH GREEN OLIVES RECIPE

Steps:

• fold together all ingredients in large bowl refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight before serving