Starter · 5 minutes, plus 1 hour to sit · Serves 4
Market olives with French Citrus
These came from the market in Castellana Grotte, sold loose in their brine and not yet seasoned: large green olives, such as Bella di Cerignola. Bought like that, they are a blank page, and the dressing is yours to choose.
Keep some of the brine. It stops the olives drying out at the top of the dish, and it carries the blend down between them, so the seasoning reaches every olive rather than only the top layer. The oil floats on the brine and holds the herbs at the surface, which is why the dish looks the way it does in the photograph.
French Citrus brings lemon peel and tarragon, and both suit a mild green olive. Give them at least an hour. By then the olives taste of the blend, and more so the next day.
- Serves
- 4 as part of a spread
- Time
- 5 minutes, plus 1 hour to sit
Ingredients
- 300 g large green olives in brine, such as Bella di Cerignola
- About 100 ml of their brine
- 3 tbsp good olive oil
- 1 tsp French Citrus
- Flake salt, only if it needs it
Method
- Lift the olives out of their brine with a slotted spoon into a shallow dish. Keep the brine.
- Pour about 100 ml of the brine over them, enough that the olives sit just under the surface or close to it.
- Pour over the oil and scatter the French Citrus across the top.
- Stir gently so the blend gets down between the olives. The herbs will rise and settle on the oil, which is how it should look.
- Leave them to sit for at least an hour at room temperature, stirring once or twice. Covered in the fridge, they keep for 2 to 3 days; take them out in good time so they are back at room temperature when you serve them.
- Taste one before you think about salt. The brine and the blend both carry some, and the olives rarely need more.
- Serve them in their dish with the oil, as part of a spread, with a small bowl beside them for the stones.