Recipes

Preparing olives

Once you have harvested your olives – a sometimes precarious activity involving a ladder, a basket and lots of shaking – they need to be fermented before they can be eaten.

Wash and drain approximately 5kg of fresh olives in water. In a separate container – such as a large plastic tub, dissolve 400g of sea salt in 3.5 litres of water. Stir in half a cup of white wine vinegar. Make one or two deep scores in each olive with a knife, before placing them in the container. Place a plate on the top of the olives to ensure they are completely submerged, and then seal the container, and leave for about a month.

Once your olives have fermented, add garlic, herbs, or lemon juice to flavour, or enjoy as they are.

Olive and Fetta Bruschetta

8 large vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g fetta cheese
Handful of roughly chopped black olives
2 cloves garlic
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 slices sour dough bread
1 handful of torn fresh basil

Mix the tomatoes, olives, fetta, basil and one chopped clove of garlic together in a bowl.
Brush the bread with the olive oil and then rub with remaining clove of garlic. Place the bread on a hot grill plate until golden on both sides.
Top with the tomato mixture, drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Season to taste, and serve immediately.