Category: Olive recipes

For the Fish
2 fillets of Cornish hake
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
Generous pinch of sea salt
Zest of ½ lemon
Pinch of cracked black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
40-50g knob of butter

For the bean salad
350g Bold Bean Co Queen Butter Beans
Pot of Sun Dried Cherry Tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped fennel fronds or dill
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Pinch of fennel seeds

For the greens
Large handful of Rainbow chard or spinach, roughly chopped
Broad bean tops [optional]
½ red onion, finely sliced
Pot of Garlic, Peppers & Mustard Seed Olives
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt and pepper
Juice of ½ lemon

Lightly cure your fish by sprinkling with salt, pepper, lemon zest and pepper.  Leave on a wire rack for 30 mins to draw out some excess moisture.

Make your bean salad by mixing the butter beans with sun dried cherry tomatoes, fennel and lemon. Season to taste and keep at room temperature.

Cook your wilted greens simply in a large pan for 3-4 minutes until soft and finish with fresh lemon juice and a small pinch of salt. Add the olives, they should provide a sweet, briny seasoning to this side dish.

Cook your fillets of Cornish hake in a hot pan with a little oil and sear on one side. Then flip over after 2-3 minutes and add a knob of butter. Spoon the hot foaming  butter over the fish until cooked.

Serve the dish simply with a handful of greens, large spoon of the bean salad and a fillet of pan-fried fish.

8-12 scallops
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of paprika
Pinch of sea salt
185g La Verde olives
75g ‘Nduja spicy sausage
200g spring greens, shredded
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 preserved lemon, thinly sliced

Coat your scallops in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and paprika. Heat a non-stick frying pan and cook your scallops for 2-3 mins on each side.

In another pan heat your spicy sausage, shallot, olives, lemon and spring greens.

Stir well and serve as soon as the spring greens wilt and the shallot softens with pan fried scallops on top.

1kg strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
20g salt
20g yeast
800ml tepid water
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling
1kg pouch of olives (blend of your choice), roughly chopped
Fine semolina, for dusting

Oil 2x 2-3 litre square plastic containers.

Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add 3/4 of the water and begin mixing on a slow speed. As the dough starts to come together, gradually add the remaining water.

Mix for a further 5-8 minutes on a medium speed. The dough should now be wet and stretch easily when pulled. Add the olive oil and mix fro a further 2 minutes. Add the olives and mix until evenly spread throughout the dough.

Put the dough into the oiled containers and leave until they have at least tripled in size, for approximately an hour.

Line 4x baking trays with baking parchment or silicone paper and preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Dust the work surface heavily with flour and add some semolina too. Carefully tip the dough onto the surface. It will be very loose and flowing, but don’t worry. Rather than knocking it back as you usually would with bread, handle it gently so that you keep as much air in the dough as possible.

Dust the top of the dough with flour and then stretch it out gentle to a rough rectangle. Starting at one long edge, cut the dough into approximately 36 strips. Stretch each piece out until 20-25cm long. Place 6x strips onto each of the prepared baking trays, spacing them apart.

Bake the breadsticks for 10-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the lamb:
1 small leg of lamb
2 tbsp shawarma spice paste
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tsp smoked sea salt
200g Kalamata olives
1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
6 dates
200ml red wine

For the asparagus:
8 asparagus spears
2 preserved lemons, roughly chopped
1 tbsp chermoula
2 tsp olive oil

To serve:
Multi grain cous cous
Flatbreads
Natural yogurt

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Rub your lamb with oil, salt and the spice paste. Next sear the lamb in a pan on all sides to brown the meat. Add the fennel, garlic and rosemary.

Transfer to the oven and roast on a high temperature for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 160˚C and add in your red wine, olives and dates.

Roast for 1 hour 20 minutes until the lamb is cooked. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and slice the lamb returning it to the pan with your olive and wine sauce.

Next prepare your asparagus by simply cooking for 3-5 minutes in a frying pan with chermoula and preserved lemon.

Warm the flatbreads and serve with couscous, grilled asparagus and a good handful of chopped lamb and juicy olives. Top with a dollop of yogurt and fresh herbs.

2 fillets of MSC certified Cornish Hake
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of sea salt
100g butter

For the polenta:
150g polenta
100g La Verde olives
1 small bunch of basil
2 tsp of roasted garlic puree
500ml water
100ml milk
50g grated parmesan
Pinch of grated nutmeg

Heat the milk and water in a saucepan and slowly whisk in your polenta over a medium heat. Stir well and cook for 15-20 mins.

Pan fry the hake by salting with sea salt and then placing it in an oiled pan skin side down. Cook for 4 mins until the skin is crispy and then turn over. Add half your butter and spoon the bubbling butter over the fish as you finish cooking it for the final couple of minutes.

To finish the polenta, blitz your olives into a coarse paste in a food processor with the basil, parmesan, roast garlic and remaining butter. Add this to the polenta as it starts to come away from the side of the pan.

Serve the olive and basil polenta with the hake fillet on top and some sprigs of baby basil. Finish with extra parmesan.

1 kg organic mussels
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g pancetta
Pinch of saffron
1 tsp paprika
185g La Verde olives
200ml cider
1 red onion, roughly diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
6-8 heritage tomatoes, roughly chopped
Handful of shelled broad beans
12 basil leaves
1 tsp cracked green pepper

Heat your oil in a large pan and saute the pancetta, paprika and saffron.

Add in your diced red onion and cook. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the pancetta and onion caramelise nicely.

Next add chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat slightly. Simmer for 5 minutes and when a sauce starts to form add in a tablespoon of butter, peppercorns, mussels and cider.

Stir well and place a lid over the pan and steam for 4-5 minutes until all the mussels are open and cooked.

Finish the dish by warming through the broad beans, torn basil leaves and La Verde olives.

Serve with sourdough bread.