Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club
Explore Recipes Appetizers Page 7

Black Bean Dip

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

We love appetizers that can be assembled quickly. This recipe uses ingredients you likely have on hand. No fresh jalapeños? Pickled ones can be used, too.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 small yellow onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 to 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
  • Two 15.5-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt (kosher or sea)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • Tortilla chips and/or crudités, for serving

Directions

Step 1

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, and jalapeños, and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 10 minutes. Do not
brown.

Step 2

Transfer the cooked onion mixture to a blender or food processor and add the black beans, salt, cumin, lime juice, water, and cilantro. Blend until smooth. If the dip is too thick, add more water or lime juice, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it out.

Step 3

Taste and adjust the seasonings, then transfer the dip to a serving bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature with tortilla chips and/or crudités.

Serves 6 — Recipe adapted from onceuponachef.com

Marinated Piquillo Pepper and Whipped Eggplant Toast

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Piquillo peppers are grown in the town of Lodosa, Navarre, Spain. Their name translates to “little beak,” as their pointy tips resemble a bird’s beak. Mild in fl avor and similar to bell peppers in texture, they are generally sold jarred in brine or olive oil. They’re perfect for stuffing or roasting.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating a frying pan
  • Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup sherry vinegar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
  • One 12-ounce jar grilled piquillo peppers, drained and patted dry
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 2 ounces cream cheese
  • Thick toasts made from your choice of bread, such as a baguette

Directions

Step 1

Roast the eggplant directly over a gas flame, turning occasionally, until charred all over and soft, about 12 minutes. (Alternatively, halve the eggplant lengthwise and roast at 425°F until tender, about 30 minutes.) Transfer to a colander and let cool slightly, then peel and let cool completely.

Step 2

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cook the garlic in the oil over medium heat until sizzling, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vinegar, honey, rosemary, oregano, and minced parsley. Season the vinaigrette generously with salt and pepper.

Step 3

Heat a large cast-iron skillet filmed with olive oil. In batches if necessary, add the piquillos to the skillet in an even layer. Cook over high heat, turning once, until lightly charred on both sides, about 2 minutes total. Add the piquillos to the warm vinaigrette and let cool completely.

Step 4

In a food processor, combine the eggplant with both cheeses and purée until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spread the whipped eggplant on toasts, and using a slotted spoon, spoon some of the marinated piquillos on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Serves 4 to 6 as a tapa — Recipe from Food and Wine, May 2016

Figs alla Modena

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

There are many vinegar bottles labeled “balsamic,” but the real thing must come from Modena, Italy. Just a few drops of a true balsamic will bring out the flavors of all the other ingredients in this dish. When figs aren’t available, substitute berries, pears, or peaches.

Ingredients

  • 8 slices of prosciutto
  • 8-ounce log of fresh goat cheese, sliced into thin medallions
  • 8 fresh figs, halved
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon best-quality balsamic vinegar di Modena

Directions

Step 1

Arrange the slices of prosciutto around the perimeter of a serving platter or charcuterie board. Moving toward the center, make a ring of goat cheese slices and then place the fig halves in the center.

Step 2

Drizzle everything with the olive oil and balsamic.

Yields 8 appetizer or 4 luncheon servings

Crab-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Piquillo means “little beak” in Spanish, and piquillo peppers get their name from that shape, though, ironically, they don’t have the “bite” of many other pepper varieties. Grown in the Navarra region ofnorthern Spain near the town of Lodosa, they’re very mild.After harvest, they’re fire-roasted for a sweet and smoky flavor, peeled and seeded by hand, then packed in brine. You can purchase them from many online purveyors. For a variation on the crabmeat, try flaked Spanish tuna. 

Ingredients

  • Extra virgin olive oil, about 3 tablespoons in all
  • 6 ounces goat cheese or cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon dry Spanish sherry
  • 1 cup crabmeat, shredded
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped pitted black olives, preferably Spanish 
  • 3 tablespoons finely minced scallion tops (green parts only) 
  • Kosher or coarse sea salt 
  • Freshly ground black pepper 
  • 12-ounce jar of brined whole piquillo peppers, drained 

Directions

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Drizzle the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and set aside. Use a wooden spoon to combine the cheese and sherry in a bowl. Fold in the crabmeat, olives, and scallions, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 2

Transfer the cheese-crab mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch donut filler tip, or use a sturdy resealable plastic bag and snip off one of the lower corners to make a 1/2-inch opening. (In a pinch, you can use a small spoon.) Gently pipe about a tablespoon of the cheese-crab mixture into each pepper, being careful not to overstuff and risk tearing the walls of the peppers.

Step 3

Arrange the stuffed peppers in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over the top of each pepper. Bake until the cheese is bubbling, about 12 minutes. 

Yields 6 to 8 appetizer servings