Red Hot Green Olives Recipes

WARM MARINATED OLIVES

Steps:

• Drain the green and black olives from the brine or oil that they're packed in and place them in a medium bowl. Add the orange zest, garlic, fennel seeds, thyme leaves, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Pour the olive oil over the mixture, add the thyme sprigs and toss to combine.
• Transfer the mixture, including the olive oil, to a medium (10-inch) sauté pan. Heat over medium heat until the oil begins to sizzle. Lower the heat and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the olives and garlic are heated through and fragrant. Serve warm right from the pan or transfer to a serving dish. Offer a small dish for the pits.

RED HOT GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Drain olives. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over olives in jar.
• Re-cap and refrigerate for at least 3 days, turning jar daily so spices will permeate.
• Sprinkle with more crushed red pepper before serving, if desired.

SPICY ROASTED OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a small roasting pan, mix together the olives, rosemary, chile, and garlic. Slice the tangerines in half and squeeze the juice over the olives; toss in the rinds. Pour over the olive oil and vinegar and give it a good stir. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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.

UNBELIEVABLY CREAMY GARLIC & GREEN OLIVE PASTA

Steps:

• Put on a big pot of water to boil.
• Pick out your pasta, cook it al dente and keep it hot You can use spaghetti, capellini, vermicelli, or linguini, whatever you prefer.
• After you've made this once, and you know how long it takes for you to make the sauce, you make everything come up ready at the same time.
• Get some green olives.
• Any kind you want, really.
• I just get a bottle of cheap salad olives.
• There are usually a lot of pimento pieces floating around in there.
• We like the color, but I'm afraid the ol' Frugal Gourmet would NOT approve.
• You can get a bit fancier if you want.
• Chop up the olives a bit, not tiny.
• Next the garlic.
• OK, you HAVE to use fresh for this, no powder, not even the jar of pre-chopped.
• Those are okay for some things, and I do use them often.
• However, if you use anything other than fresh garlic in this recipe, you will not be impressed, and you will never make this again.
• I will weep.
• Don't do that to me.
• Take your fresh garlic clove, wrap it in that flat rubber disc you use to open jars.
• Just roll it up in there, then roll it back and forth on the countertop a few times.
• Unwrap it, and the peel should be off or mostly off.
• Do this with lots of garlic cloves.
• LOTS.
• At least a couple per person you're feeding.
• Slice the garlic, but not too thinly.
• In a hot non-stick sauté pan, put a little olive oil, the fresh sliced garlic and a lot of chopped green olives.
• Be generous.
• A handful per person is a good start.
• Sauté the garlic and olives just a bit, being careful not to let the garlic brown, or it may become bitter.
• Add some light cream, and bring to a simmer.
• Cook over low heat until the liquid has been reduced by almost half, and it is thick, stirring very often.
• Pour this over the hot pasta, sprinkle generously with parmesan, chopped parsley (fresh is best, but I usually only have dried) and black pepper, preferably fresh from the pepper mill.
• Toss.
• Serve immediately.
• Bow.
• But be humble.

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.

WARM MARINATED OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oil, chiles, rosemary, and fennel and coriander seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add olives; stir to coat. Heat mixture, stirring occasionally, until warmed, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

CRACKED GREEN OLIVES WITH HERBS AND PRESERVED LEMON

Steps:

• If using uncracked whole olives, crush lightly with flat side of large knife on a cutting board. In a large bowl cover olives with cold water and soak 4 hours to remove excess salt. Drain olives well. In a bowl stir together olives and remaining ingredients 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.

HOT CHEESE OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter until creamy in a large mixing bowl, add the cheese and mix well. Stir in the flour, salt, cayenne and the Worcestershire and mix until smooth. Beat the egg with 2 tablespoons cold water. Add to the dough and mix just until incorporated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough and flatten out a piece about the size of a walnut into a thin round. Place an olive on top and shape it around the olive, pinching to repair any breaks. Place it on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and olives. Bake until the dough sets, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.