Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club
Autumn 2019 Page 3

End-of-Season Vegetable Casserole

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

This is a great casserole to make while gardens are still yielding—substantial enough to serve as a vegetarian main course. We love recipes that command you to drizzle extra virgin olive oil straight from the bottle! Yes, I’m a profligate drizzler. 

Ingredients

  • Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • 1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, trimmed, seeded, and thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
  • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
  • 1/2 pound plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 2 small zucchini (1/2 pound), sliced on a diagonal, 1/4 inch thick
  • 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Spread the potatoes in the dish in an even layer; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic, and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Arrange two-thirds of the bell pepper mixture over the potatoes and drizzle with oil. Top with the tomatoes and the zucchini; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with the remaining bell pepper mixture and sprinkle with the cheese. 

Step 2

Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F. Uncover the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and glazed on top. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm. 

Serves 4 — Recipe from Food and Wine, August 2010 

Barramundi on a Bed of Fresh Greens

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

One of the most pleasurable evenings on this trip was cooking dinner in the kitchen of food entrepreneur Melissa Wong and her husband, Robert. A simple vinaigrette whipped up in minutes became the unifying factor in this dish, serving as a salad dressing, a marinade, and a sauce. If you can’t find barramundi (a popular fish in Australia), substitute halibut or other mild white fish. 

Ingredients

  • 2 lemons, 1 zested and juiced, 1 sliced lengthwise into quarters
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs, such as dill, flat-leaf parsley, oregano, etc.
  • 4 barramundi fillets, each 6 to 8 ounces
  • 4 loosely packed cups of baby arugula, spinach, or other mixed greens
  • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 small Persian cucumbers, diced
  • Quick Pickled Red Onions (optional; see below) 

Directions

Step 1

Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest and juice, vinegar, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Whisk until the salt and honey dissolve. Continue to whisk while slowly adding the olive oil; whisk until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Stir in the minced herbs. Taste the vinaigrette, adding more vinegar or salt and pepper to taste. Pour 1/3 of the vinaigrette into a separate container, reserving the remainder. 

Step 2

Lay the fish fillets on a rimmed sheet pan and lightly brush both sides with the smaller portion of vinaigrette. (Dividing the vinaigrette into two containers prevents cross-contamination.) Season lightly with salt and pepper. 

Step 3

Toss the greens, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved vinaigrette (you want them coated lightly) and divide among 4 plates. Top with a few rings of Quick Pickled Red Onions, if desired. 

Step 4

Light a grill or preheat a stovetop grill pan to medium-high. Arrange the fillets, skin side down, on a well-oiled grill grate. Cook until the edges begin to look opaque, 2 to 3 minutes for thin fillets and 4 to 5 minutes for thicker fillets. Gently turn and cook the other side until the fish is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. (Do not overcook.) Arrange the fillets on the prepared plates. Drizzle with any remaining vinaigrette. Garnish each plate with a lemon wedge. 

Step 5

Quick Pickled Red Onions: Thinly slice a red onion into rings and place in a pint-size canning jar. Bring 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt. Pour over the onions. Let cool to room temperature before serving. Cover the jar and refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Serves 4 — Recipe courtesy of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club

Towpath Olive Oil Cake

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

This recipe was recommended to us by a talented baker who pronounced it a keeper, one of the best cake recipes in her files. 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
  • Juice of 1 orange 

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the sides of a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. 

Step 2

In a small bowl, stir the flour and baking powder together. 

Step 3

Place the sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until thick and pale yellow, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

Step 4

Add the olive oil, milk, orange zest, and orange juice and beat for another minute or two. Turn off the machine and fold in the flour mixture by hand. 

Step 5

Scrape into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack completely before serving. 

Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 8 to 10 — Recipe from The London Cookbook by Aleksandra Crapanzano, Ten Speed Press (2016) 

Vegetables’ health benefits increase when cooked with extra virgin olive oil

Posted on by The Olive Oil Hunter

Adapted from an article from the University of Barcelona, June 13, 2019 

Cooking the vegetables in sofrito (the traditional Spanish sauté of garlic, onion, and tomato) with extra virgin olive oil increases the absorption and release of the bioactive compounds in the vegetables, according to a study conducted by a research team from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences at the University of Barcelona (UB), from the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERobn), and the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Networking Biomedical Research (CIBERDEM), led by Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventós. These results, published in the scientific journal Molecules, allow for insight into the mechanisms by which gastronomy could play a relevant role in the health-improving effects of the Mediterranean diet.

The Mediterranean diet, which involves a high consumption of phytochemicals from vegetables, fruits, and legumes, has been correlated to health-improving effects in cardiovascular and metabolic health. This correlation has largely been established by findings from the extensive PREDIMED study, a multicenter clinical trial carried out from 2003 to 2011 with more than 7,000 participants.

However, the healthful effects of the Mediterranean diet have been challenging to reproduce in non- Mediterranean populations—possibly, according to the researchers, because of differences in cooking techniques. With this study, researchers have attempted to assess whether the Mediterranean gastronomy imputes its health benefits not only via its food components but also via the way those foods are cooked.

The objective of the study was to assess the effect of the extra virgin olive oil on bioactive compounds in tomato, onion, and garlic—the traditional ingredients in sofrito, one of the key cooking techniques in the Mediterranean diet. According to the researchers, this sauce has forty different phenolic compounds and a high amount of carotenoids, and its consumption is associated with an improvement of the cardiovascular risk parameters and insulin sensitivity.

“The main result of the study is that cooking vegetables with extra virgin olive oil [allows] the bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids and polyphenols, that are present in vegetables we find in sofrito to move to the olive oil, which enables the absorption and bioactivity of these compounds,” says Lamuela -Raventós, director of the Institute for Research on Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB).

The study also identified a new property of olive oil. Previous researchers had noted that the combination of olive oil and onion produces isomers of certain carotenoids. These isomers are more bioavailable and have a higher antioxidant content. This study found that olive oil facilitates this process not only with carotenoids but also with polyphenols, which are transferred from the vegetables to the oil.

These results could explain earlier findings by this research group that the presence of olive oil increases the anti-inflammatory effects of sofrito. “We saw that this increase can occur due to the migration of bioactive compounds (carotenoids and polyphenols) from the tomato, onion, and garlic to the oil during the cooking process, which [improves] the absorption of these compounds,” concludes José Fernando Rinaldi de Alvarenga, INSA-UB member and lead author of the paper.

Reference: de Alvarenga JF et al. Using extra virgin olive oil to cook vegetables enhances polyphenol and carotenoid extractability: a study applying the sofrito technique. Molecules. 2019;24(8): DOI: 10.3390/molecules24081555.