Hosting soon? Want a delicious little treat to serve up or simply have sitting in your fridge or out on your counter? Make these rosemary and citrus-marinated olives.
I spotted this recipe in Paul Kahan’s Cooking for Good Times in the before times ⎯ before I found my true love for olives. Before I needed to have them on hand anytime anyone was coming over. Fast forward a year or so, and I can’t get enough. My close friends even affectionately call these “THE olives” which I love.
I have these on hand, pretty much, at all times. You never know when a friend will pop by or when I’ll spot a neighbor, we catch up, and it leads to a glass of wine and luckily! a plate of olives.
Quick sidebar to say that it does, often, feel like I live in Stars Hollow and I couldn’t be more smitten with it. We’ve got neighborhood meetings every month, a local café with a membership deal (every Sunday I sit out with the New York Times Book Review and chat with my neighbors and it brings so much joy).
Back to the olives. I have these rosemary and citrus marinated olives at the ready because they’re just that good. They’ve got a toasty fennel seed in ’em, freshly squeezed orange juice and zest, and some herby goodness.
A few other favorite olives include the Scribe fried olives (seriously if you have not had fried olives I HIGHLY recommend them) and Murray’s Tangerine and chili marinated olives (these are on the sweeter side and SO very good). Going to try to take a stab at making similar-style olives next 😉
Make your citrus-marinated olives
These are ready in about 15ish minutes, depending on if you want to include the toasted fennel seed. I really dig it, I think it gives it an earthy grounded kind of taste but fennel seed can be divisive! Leave them out if they’re not your thing.
Enjoy!
g.
Rosemary and Citrus-Marinated Olives
Ingredients
- 1 jar whole castelvetrano olives
- 1 jar whole kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 orange
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 3 whole bay leaves
- 1 dash sea salt
Instructions
- Strain out your olives and rinse with warm water to remove the brine.
- If you're using fennel seeds, toast them in a pan over medium heat until golden and fragrant.
- While your fennel seeds are toasting, toss your olives in a bowl with olive oil, zest and juice from 1 orange, rosemary sprigs, bay leaves, and sea salt. Add fennel seeds and stir.
- These can sit out on the counter for a while or pop them in the fridge to extend their life for a few weeks. The oil may solidify so if you're going to enjoy them out of the fridge, let them come up to room temp first.
