Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club
Explore Recipes Entrees Page 12

Spanakopita “Cigars”

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Packaged spanakopita, often in canape-sized shapes, can taste rather bland. With a package of frozen phyllo (or fresh if you live near a Greek pastry shop!), you can make this wonderful dish with layers of flavor—the sweetness of the caramelized onions, pine nuts, and currants, the freshness of the parsley and dill, and the zest of the cheeses—all enhanced by the richness of fresh-pressed olive oil. If you have the time, you can steam and chop fresh spinach, but you’ll need a very big volume to achieve two pounds. Frozen is easier to work with—allow it to defrost overnight in the fridge along with the phyllo. This recipe also includes bulgur, a tasty whole grain. You can roll the dough and filling into many different shapes. Long logs, or cigars, are easy to roll up and the shape is less likely to tear the delicate phyllo. Enjoy the process of working with phyllo—it’s easy once you get the hang of it…if you allow yourself time to work at a comfortable pace.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds frozen leaf spinach, defrosted
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound sweet onions, preferably Vidalia, coarsely chopped 
  • 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
  • 1 cup very finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 cup other assorted fresh herbs, like oregano, dill, and spearmint
  • 1/3 cup dried tiny currants, such as Zante, or chopped golden raisins
  • 8-ounce block of fresh feta, preferably from Greece
  • 1/2 cup ricotta
  • Coarse sea salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 3 large eggs
  • 16-ounce package frozen phyllo, defrosted
  • 1 tablespoon each white and black sesame seeds

Directions

Step 1

Use your hands to squeeze and discard as much excess liquid from the spinach as you can, then place it in a large colander lined with paper towels over a bowl to continue draining. 

Step 2

Heat a large frying pan and, when hot, toast the pine nuts for just a minute or two to bring out their flavor; watch carefully because they can easily burn. Transfer the nuts to a small dish and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the hot pan, then the onions, and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are very soft. While they’re cooking, make the bulgur in a small saucepan according to package directions; when done, there should be no water left in the pan.  

Step 3

Squeeze any remaining liquid from the spinach and transfer it to a large bowl. Add the pine nuts, onions, bulgur, chopped herbs, and currants or raisins. Finely crumble the feta and add it in along with the ricotta; mix thoroughly. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired—it may already taste salty enough from the feta. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, reserving about 1/4 cup. Work the beaten eggs into the spinach mixture. 

Step 4

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper and set it to one side. Prep the section of countertop where you’ll work with a sheet of parchment paper (see “Quick Kitchen Nugget” in Newsletter #176 for details). Pour olive oil into a small bowl.

Step 5

Gently open the phyllo package and unroll the dough onto another rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment paper; immediately cover it with a dry dish towel topped by a damp dish towel. When you’re ready to start, quickly remove one sheet of phyllo and place it on the parchment in front of you. Use the tips of a pastry brush to dab some olive oil across the surface—you don’t need to be too thorough since you’ll be adding more oil with each sheet. Top with another phyllo sheet and dab again, placing the oil on areas where you can see that there’s no oil on the first sheet. Repeat with a third sheet of phyllo. 

Step 6

Scoop out a generous half-cup of filling and use your fingers to spread it out in a line across the long end of the dough closest to you, 1 inch in from the edge and from the two short sides. Roll up the phyllo just enough to cover the filling, fold in the outer ends, dab on more oil, and roll up the rest of the way, adding a final dab of oil before transferring the cigar with a bench scraper or wide offset spatula to the parchment-lined sheet pan; cover it with another clean towel. 

Step 7

Repeat the process with the rest of the filling and phyllo. Once you’ve rolled all the cigars, remove the towel and use the pastry brush to brush them with the reserved egg, then sprinkle on the sesame seeds. 

Step 8

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the phyllo crisps and browns.  

Yields 12 cigars

Bell Pepper “Empanadas”

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

This take on empanadas de queso is perfect when you want melted cheesy goodness but would rather skip the dough. Preferred in Chile is the very buttery queso chanco, a cheese that’s close in taste and texture to our Muenster. Though not traditional in empanadas, merquén adds a nice zest (you can substitute pimentón if it’s already on your spice shelf). To make this more of a meal, toss the shredded cheese with 1 cup of cooked brown rice or quinoa before stuffing into the peppers. Eat them with a knife and fork or with your hands, empanada style.

Ingredients

  • 8-ounce block Muenster cheese
  • 4 medium red, orange, or yellow bell peppers, about 5 ounces each
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon merquén, or more to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Shred the cheese on a box grater or with the shredding blade of a food processor. Use a grapefruit or paring knife to carefully cut around and remove the stem of each bell pepper. To avoid cutting into the flesh, use an iced tea or grapefruit spoon to scrape out the ribs and any seeds. Generously drizzle each pepper inside and out with olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of merquén inside each pepper, then fill with equal amounts of the shredded cheese. Bake upright on a parchment-lined rimmed sheet pan or, if they won’t stand upright, in a muffin tin for 30 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is bubbly. Let cool slightly. Drizzle with olive oil right before eating.

Serves 4

Ceviche de Porotos Negros (Black Bean Ceviche)

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

I enjoyed this dish at the wonderful Cervecería Rural in Litueche. It’s a salad of black beans (red kidney beans make a great alternative) dressed in the style of a ceviche marinade. Some versions have all the ingredients tossed together, but Rural’s chef presented it as a beautifully composed salad.

Ingredients

For the dressing:

  • 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro with some stems
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Coarse sea salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the ceviche:

  • Two 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 green bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and shaved on the slicing side of a box grater
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin slices
  • 1 cup frisée or arugula
  • Kernels from one ear of freshly steamed corn
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Step 1

In a food processor, mince the jalapeño, garlic, and cilantro, then add the lime juice and olive oil and pulse until blended. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Place the beans in a bowl and toss them with half the dressing; set aside for 30 minutes to marinate.

Step 2

When ready to serve, place equal amounts of the beans on 4 plates. Arrange these ingredients in a clockwise pattern over the beans: a few matchsticks of the bell peppers, a small mound of red onion, 3 to 4 slices of avocado, and a few leaves of frisée. Sprinkle a handful of corn kernels over each dish and then drizzle with the rest of the marinade and more olive oil.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Roasted Chicken with Mango and Nut Salsa

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Roasted chicken is the little black dress of the table, welcome on the menu of a dinner party or a weeknight meal. The following bright-tasting salsa is also terrific with fish, a popular entrée in Chile, a country with over 2,000 miles of Pacific coastline. Dice the vegetables extra fine and serve the salsa with cold shrimp for a warm-weather appetizer.

Ingredients

For the salsa:

  • 3 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted, and diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
  • 1 jalapeño, cored, seeded, and finely diced
  • 1/2 cup diced red onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
  • Zest of one lime
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon merquén or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
  • 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts or shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
  • Coarse salt (optional; don’t use if nuts are salted)

For the chicken:

  • One 4-pound roasting
    chicken, giblets removed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Step 1

Make the salsa: Combine the mangos, bell pepper, jalapeño, onion, lime zest and juice, olive oil, honey, and merquén. Stir gently with a rubber-bladed spatula. Add the nuts and a pinch of salt, if using, and stir to combine. Set aside while you roast the chicken.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Truss the chicken, if desired. Rub on all sides with olive oil and season generously, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Place on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Place in the oven. Roast until the chicken is golden brown and an instant-read meat thermometer reads 165°F when the probe is inserted in the deepest part of a thigh, about an hour and 15 minutes. Let the bird rest for 10 minutes before carving. Stir the salsa once more before serving with the chicken.

Serves 3 to 4