Tag Archives: olives

Tortilla de patatas, aceitunas espanolas y chorizo (Spanish tortilla with Spanish Olives and Chorizo) recipe!

Posted on by Abi

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll probably remember my ravings on the benefits of Olives from Spain. I wont repeat myself today, I only wanted to share another fabulous recipe from Omar Allibhoy. This Tortilla is quick, simple and the whole family seems to love it!

What You’ll Need

3 Large Potatoes for frying

1 Onion

Spanish Olive oil for deep frying

8 Large Free Range Eggs

225g Hot Chorizo Sausage

1 Handful Pitted Spanish Olives (green olives)

Salt to season

 

Step 1

Peel, wash and thinly slice the potatoes, then cut into half to make half moon shapes.

Repeat this step with the onion.

Pour Olive oil in a deep frying pan over a high heat. Use enough oil to just cover the potatoes and onion.

Step 2

Once the oil is hot, cook the onion for about 10 minutes until golden. Then add the sliced potatoes, stirring occasionally for at least 15 minutes. The potatoes should then be soft and cooked through.

Step 3

Drain the oil from the potatoes and onion. In a separate dish mix together the egg, then add the potatoes and onion and mix again. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

Step 4

Chop the chorizo into chunks and halve the pitted olives. In the same frying pan that you used earlier fry the chorizo for 1 minute, followed by the olives for 15 seconds. Add them into the potato, onion and egg mix. Season and stir slowly.

Step 5

Place a non stick omlette/frying pan over a medium heat and drizzle in a drop of olive oil.

Pour the Tortilla mix into the pan and lower the heat. After 4 minutes use a large plate to cover the pan, hold it firmly and flip the Tortilla onto the plate. Return the uncooked side of the Tortilla back to the pan.

Depending  on the size and depth of the pan cooking time may vary, Omar suggests eating the Tortilla when it is still a little runny in the centre. This is all down to personal preference of course.

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Trufas de chocolate y aceitunas espanolas (Chocolate and Spanish Olive Truffles) Recipe!

Posted on by Abi

On Monday I raved about Olives From Spain and the amazing creations from chef Omar Allibhoy. Today I am going to share his Chocolate and Spanish Olive Truffles Recipe. It may sound strange, but if you love flavours like Salted Caramel then you’ll adore these melt in the mouth truffles.

What You’ll Need

150ml Double Cream

220g Dark Chocolate (70% min) chopped

Zest of 1 Orange

50g Pitted Black Spanish Olives

40g Butter chopped

Cocoa Powder for dusting

 

Step 1

Start by immersing the olives in a bowl of water to wash off any excess brine etc. Then blend them into a rough paste in a food processor.

Step 2

Place the double cream into a medium saucepan over a low heat. When this is just reaching boiling point, turn off the heat. Add the chopped dark chocolate, orange zest and olive paste.

Step 3

Mix with a spatula until your truffle mixture has a smooth texture. Now add the chopped butter for extra shine and silkiness.

Step 4

Pour into a bowl and cover with cling film. Place into the fridge for 5-7 hours (or overnight) to harden.

Step 5

Once cool, shape the mixture into balls with your hands and then roll in cocoa powder. Remember to keep in the fridge.

Tip

When we made these we took a chocolate mould and dusted with cocoa powder, before pressing the truffle mixture into the shapes. Pop back in the fridge for a few minutes, then bring out and pop out perfect little chocolates!

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Olive Masterclass with Omar Allibhoy and Olives From Spain!

Posted on by Abi

I was recently invited to attend an Olive Masterclass with the talented Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy and hosted by Olives From Spain.

There is a widely believed misconception that the majority of olives originate from countries such as Italy and Greece. When in actual fact 40% of the olives sold worldwide originate in Spain. Just a quick check of the jars and bottles in your local supermarket should confirm this. Spain also offers the greatest varieties of olives and the most nutritious. The climate being absolutely perfect for growing fruits of the very best quality.

We started the evening by perusing the many varieties that Spain regularly produces. There is a huge selection of sizes, colours and stuffings (I shall no longer think of them as just green or black). Apparently seaweed stuffed olives are very popular in Japan! In between yummy taste testings, we learnt about the amazing health benefits they offer. I must confess that I was rather ignorant on this point, I knew that the oils were beneficial but I had always assumed that olives were too high in salts etc. In fact most of us are actually eating far too few. Leading experts recommend that we all eat at least 7 olives a day! They aid digestion, are high in Vitamins A, C, D, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and iodine. Whew, what a list! Incidentally all olives can be made into oil, but not all are good enough to become table olives. They must be easy to pick from the tree, not too tough on the outside and have a good shape both inside and out to make the grade.

If you thought these small fruits were just something to throw in a salad or pasta sauce, you’d be wrong. Enjoyed since before the time of Christ, they are an incredibly underused ingredient in this country. The Olives From Spain team including Omar are on a mission to show us just how versatile and enjoyable they can be.

Omar was described by Gordon Ramsey as the ‘Antonio Banderas of cooking’ and has a natural enthusiasm for his art that is quite infectious. He began by cooking a wonderful Tortilla de patatas, aceutunas espanolas y chorizo (Spanish Tortilla with Spainish Olives and chorizo). This dish was so wonderful that we’ve already made it several times since meeting Omar. What’s more my children absolutely adore it and I have a feeling it will become a regular addition to our menu (I shall share the recipe with you all soon).

We then enjoyed a beautiful Seabass dish, followed by a chicken and to top it off we ate Chocolates made with black olives. You read that correctly, olives can also be used to make sweets! Their saltiness renders the confections similar to a salted caramel. But if the flavour is too strong for you, a good immersion of the olives in water before cooking reduces their saltiness considerably.

Spain has retained a very farmer based production and this is perhaps why they haven’t sold themselves as well as other countries in the world of olives. But with events like this one I hope this is an oversight that shall soon be rectified.

After congratulating Omar on his exceedingly delicious food, I came away feeling very full, far more informed and truly excited about the future of olives in my house. They are the perfect ingredient for busy families; nutritious, delicious and they last forever. I have also found that with comparatively few cupboard ingredients you can produce a huge variety of dishes to suit every taste, which makes them even more economical. Even more exciting Omar has given me permission to share his wonderful recipes with you all, so keep your eye on the blog in the coming days!

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