🫒 Mediterranean · Vegetarian
Marinated Mixed Olives with Sun-Dried Tomato
Black and green olives folded with sun-dried tomato, fresh herbs, paprika and cracked pepper in a light pomace-oil marinade.
Behind the plate
This is a generous restaurant batch of marinated olives rather than a single-variety Kalamata preparation. Combining black and green olives gives contrast in colour and flavour, while sun-dried tomato brings concentrated sweetness and savoury depth.
The mix is intentionally simple: no cooking, no heavy dressing and no competing garnish. Time in the refrigerator allows the paprika, herbs and pepper to perfume the oil and season every olive.
Why this recipe works
Pitted olives absorb the herb-scented oil quickly, and finely distributed parsley, paprika and cracked pepper season the whole batch evenly. A cold rest gives the dried herbs time to hydrate and the sun-dried tomato time to soften.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 2 kg black pitted olives, drained
- 2 kg green pitted olives, drained
- 1 kg sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced if large
- 100 g fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 50 g ground paprika
- 30 g mixed dried herbs
- Fresh thyme, to taste
- Fresh rosemary, to taste
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- 500 ml olive pomace oil
Method
- Drain the black and green olives thoroughly so excess brine does not dilute the marinade.
- Place the olives and sun-dried tomatoes in a large food-safe container with enough room to mix without crushing them.
- Add the parsley, paprika, dried herbs, picked thyme, finely chopped rosemary and cracked black pepper.
- Pour over the pomace oil and fold everything together until the herbs and paprika are evenly distributed.
- Cover, label and refrigerate. Allow the mixture to rest before service, then stir again so the settled marinade coats the olives.
Chef’s notes
- The supplied title said Kalamata olives, but the formula uses equal quantities of unspecified black and green olives. The published title reflects the actual ingredients.
- Taste before adding salt because olives and sun-dried tomatoes are already heavily seasoned.
- Chop rosemary finely and use it with restraint; large raw needles can be unpleasant to eat.
- Keep refrigerated and use clean utensils for every service. Follow the shortest storage instruction on the olive or sun-dried-tomato packaging.
At the table
Serve as part of an antipasti board, with drinks, or beside grilled bread and roasted vegetables.