Olives
Olives are one of the most important ingredients in the Sicilian kitchen. They're a great source of vitamin E, iron, copper and calcium. Given their nutritious benefits, we've created a Mediterranean three-course meal with olives.
Starter: Pinzimonio - Fresh Seasonal Vegetables served with an Olive Oil Dip
Ingredients:
80ml extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
half a lemon
fresh seasonal vegetables
Method:
1. Fill individual serving bowls with the olive oil. Add the lemon and grind in the salt and pepper. Add any additional spices of your choice and serve with the portions of fresh vegetables to dip in the seasoned oil.
Main: Caponata
Ingredients:
1kg aubergines
200g white olives
500g tomatoes
400g celery
50g capers
60g pine nuts
2 white onions
50g sugar
300g vegetable oil
extra virgin olive oil
50g white vinegar
Method:
1. Cut the aubergines into cubes, sprinkle them with salt and let them rest in a colander for at least 1 hour in order to remove their bitter essence.
2. Cut the celery into small cubes, put them in a pot with lightly salted boiling water, let the celery soften for 5 minutes. Drain and place the celery on a cotton cloth.
3. Chop the onions and fry them with a little oil. Add the capers, the olives and the pine nuts and cook them for 10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Cut the tomatoes into cubes and slowly add them into the pan with the onion for about 20 minutes.
5. Sauté the celery in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil. Drain the aubergine, dry and fry in 300 grams of vegetable oil. Once fried, drain them and add them to the vegetable mix. Also, add the celery, stir them over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes then add the vinegar and sugar.
6. Let it deglaze. Serve the caponata with basil.
Dessert: Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 lemon
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
icing sugar to serve
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170C. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and the sugar.
2. Add the oil, milk, lemon juice and zest and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Add this mixture to the eggs, and stir just until blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
4. Bake for about 50 minutes. Cool and remove from the pan. Dust the cake with icing sugar and serve with fresh fruit.
In the same way that eating olives promotes good health from the inside out, we also promote good skin from the outside in by applying Olive Oil topically. The following products contain Olive Oil:
