If you're not preparing olives this way, you're missing out!
Mediterranean-style Marinated Olives
Hi there, happy Monday!
Is there a simpler and tastier appetizer than olives? Yes, Marinated Olives! Preparing a big batch of these marinated olives is the best way to always have an easy and delicious appetizer to offer to your guests. Also, they’ll be such a great addition to your summer salads!
As a Spanish person myself, I grew up eating olives most weekends. My grandma would always have a homemade jar of marinated olives from her olive tree ready to fill a serving bowl that had "olives" written on it, just in case she missed it!
One of the things I remember is my dad shouting from the other side of the house, "Don't fill up on olives, or you won't eat your meal." I just couldn't stop, and even today, I find olives very addictive! Olives served as a tapa is part of the Spanish culture. You get olives served with your beer, your red wine, and before your meal at restaurants together with some bread and aioli.
To make our Marinated olives, we were inspired by my Grandma's recipe, which included orange and lemon peel. However, we gave the marinade our special touch by adding za'atar, dried and fresh herbs, and different types of olives.
Before I get to the recipe, I wanted to let you know that this morning, some of you got a very exclusive e-mail with a big discount to become a Paid subscriber. If you weren’t one of them, don’t worry! Maybe you are a new member of this community, or you missed some of our e-mails, but I’m willing to send it to the first 10 people that reply to this e-mail. You only need to drop me a message saying “Interested.”
Now, the recipe!
Why I Think You'll Also Love This Recipe
Making marinated olives is very simple. All our friends who had tasted our olives asked if we could make a jar for them, and some have even been willing to pay for a cooking course to learn how to make them. The recipe is straightforward and uses just a handful of ingredients that you'll easily find.
These Marinated Olives will bring a piece of the Mediterranean to your table. Spring and summer are the perfect time to enjoy some meals by the sun, and serving these as an appetizer together with some crusty bread is a winner move.
You can use this marinade recipe to prepare your favorite type of olives. We like getting mixed olives from our farmers' market. Adding different olives makes the dish vibrant and adds different textures and flavors.
Ingredients
Mixes olives. Get different types of olives. We prefer pitted olives such as Kalamata Olives, but you can combine your favorite types.
Garlic. You can skip this ingredient if you prefer non-garlicky olives, but we love garlic, so we add crushed garlic to the marinade.
Olive oil. To marinate your olives, use extra virgin olive oil when possible.
Balsamic vinegar. You can use regular vinegar and add some date syrup or pomegranate molasses.
Orange and lemon peels. We use our own oranges and lemons from the garden. If you're buying the fruits, choose organic ones as you'll use the peel.
Dried herbs. For these Mediterranean olives, we use oregano. You can also add thyme or basil.
Za'atar. This is a lovely spice blend used in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes. You can buy it already prepared or make your own blend. Look at this Feasting At Home recipe to make your own Za'atar, or buy it already made.
Rosemary springs. We add fresh rosemary springs for extra flavor.
Method
Prepare the ingredients by peeling and crushing the garlic and shaving the lemon and orange to get 3-4 peels from each fruit.
Combine all the ingredients together using a mixing bowl.
Leave the olives to marinate for at least an hour before serving, but the longer you leave them, the more flavor you'll get from each olive.
You can store the olives in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. We always make a big enough batch if we know we have some people coming over for lunch or dinner.
I hope you like the recipe, and let me know if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help! Don’t forget to drop me a message if you want the discount code.
Talk soon,
Laura.