Olives From Spain

I was lucky enough to be sent a jar of 'Olives from Spain' its all part of a launch to get people cooking with great Spanish ingredients and a lot of us will identify olives as being an essential part of that.

Below are some fabulous suggestions and I fully intend to make the pork loin recipe soon. Ooh and the 'Chocolate Discs with Olives and Pepper', I am wondering if this as amazing as Mexican Chocolate and chilli?
However as we are dashing backwards and forwards to Leicester for my little cousin Joe, these olives were part of a lovely feast of cold meats, cheeses and crusty bread.

They are fresh, juicy, very tasty and if you don't cook but want a little taste of Spanish eating these are fabulous.

Anybody can cook Italian, Thai or traditional British food so why not get the taste of the Mediterranean using Olives from Spain! You can experiment and have fun when cooking with Spanish olives, they’re nutritious and delicious and there is a whole host of recipes you can create be it tapas, main dishes or even desserts!

The hours of sunshine, short winters and perfect soils make Spanish olives the most juicy and tasty in the world. Elegant and delicious, simple and sophisticated; olives from Spain are loved by adults and children alike.

Pitted or stuffed, olives can be included in a whole host of tasty dinners that are super easy to prepare. Their versatility means that they’re a staple on the Mediterranean diet and have been an essential ingredient in Spanish cooking for generations.

Not only are they versatile and delicious, Spanish olives also have a nutritional balance of healthy fats, fibre, vitamins and minerals. With each handful packed with goodness, olives are fast becoming the must-have ingredient in modern cooking!

So zest up the dinner table tonight with some delicious recipes containing the wonderfully versatile, deliciously elegant and bursting with goodness Spanish olive!

PORK LOIN WITH OLIVE AND MUSTARD SAUCE

Ingredients 

      

1 pork loin

12-15 black or green olives

4 shallots or French onions    

2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard

 Virgin olive oil

 1 glass of wine

  Potato straws

Method

Peel the shallots.  Rub the meat and shallots with oil and place in a roasting tin.

Preheat the oven to 250°C and roast for half an hour for a typical half-kilo cut.  Baste the meat from time to time with its own fat.

Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper.

Pour the wine into the roasting tin, deglaze and reduce for a minute.

Liquidise the sauce.

Add the chopped olives and mustard to the sauce, simmer gently for 2 minutes, correct for salt and set aside.

Carve the meat and make packages with the potato straws.  Pour the sauce to one side.

The sauce can be served hot or cold.

FRESH ANCHOVIES STUFFED WITH OLIVES

Ingredients
20 fresh anchovies
15 pitted green olives
 1 onion
½ tomato
1 teaspoon of breadcrumbs
 Eggs for batter
Flour for batter
Virgin olive oil for frying
 Salt

Method

Wash, cut open and bone the anchovies.  Wash and finely chop the onion.  Chop the olives.  Peel and dice the tomato.

Soften the onion in a frying pan in 2 soupspoons of oil.

Once softened, add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the olives to the mixture and sprinkle over a teaspoon of breadcrumbs.  Stir and set aside.

Place a spoonful of the stuffing on an open anchovy, covering with a second open anchovy.  Batter with egg and flour and fry gently until golden.

Serve with chopped black olives mixed with a few spoonfuls of olive oil, a few drops of vinegar and a pinch of paprika.  Garnish with marjoram, oregano or fresh basil.

BRAISED SEA BASS

Ingredients 
1 sea bass of approximately 1.5 to 1.7kg
 5 black olives

     1 onion

1 green pepper 
1 red pepper

1 ripe tomato

2 cloves of garlic

1 sprig of thyme

1 sprig of summer savoury
1 glass of white wine

·         3 tablespoons of tomato sauce 
Virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Peel the onions and cut into strips.

Wash and chop up the peppers.

Heat 3 or 4 soupspoons of virgin olive oil in a frying pan and soften the onions, peppers and unpeeled garlic cloves.

Peel and dice the tomato and add to the pan with the olives and the sprigs of savoury and thyme.  Allow to simmer.

Add the tomato sauce.

Place the filleted sea bass on top of the vegetables.  Pour over the wine and cook for another 7 minutes, covered, until the fish takes on a glossy white colour and flakes easily.

Serve the sea bass on a bed of the vegetables.

PASTA WITH ROAST TOMATO AND OLIVE SAUCE

Ingredients  
320-400g of pasta
1kg ripe tomatoes
 1 cup of halved green and black olives
2 tablespoons of chopped capers
 1 tablespoon of Maciena vinegar
  1 tablespoon of sugar
 3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil

 

Method

Peel and halve the tomatoes and place in an oiled oven dish.

Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the sugar and capers

Drizzle with oil and vinegar.

Roast in a preheated oven at 250oC for around 20 or 30 minutes until well cooked.

Remove the dish from the oven, cut up the tomatoes, add the olives and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packed. Drain and serve with the sauce.

CHOCOLATE DISCS WITH SPANISH OLIVES AND PEPPER

Ingredients:

    Half a block of dark chocolate

15 green Spanish olives      

 1 tsp pink peppercorns

  

Method

Halve the olives.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Spoon dollops of chocolate onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. In the centre of each dollop, arrange the olives and pink peppercorns, place another sheet of paper on top and press lightly to form small discs.

Place the paper in the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate solidifies. Remove and peel off the sheets of paper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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