Stuffed olives - Traditional side dish for tapas and other menus

In the deli department or shelves of supermarkets you will find lots of varieties of stuffed olives, which taste very good. If you would still like to enjoy the undoubtedly rewarding experience of filling the olives yourself, you can make the work easier by buying pitted olives.

We have several variations of stuffed olives as recipe suggestions:

Olives stuffed with feta cheese

Ingredients for four people

• 16 pitted green olives
• 16 peeled almonds
• 200 grams feta cheese
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation

Drain the olives when they come out of the glass.

Cut or crumble the feta cheese into small cubes.

Chop the onions very finely, peel and press the garlic.

Put the ingredients in a bowl without the olives, add the olive oil and stir until it turns into a paste.

Fill the olive with the paste and push in one almond. Let the olive cool over night (not in the refrigerator).

You can also use pine nuts instead of almonds.

Serve on a plate or an olive bowl. Insert a toothpick into each olive.

Preparation time: 30 minutes. Leave to rest for 12 hours.

Olives filled with red pepper paste or tomato paste

Ingredients for four people

• 16 pitted olives (green or black)
• 2 peppers or 4 tomatoes
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin, salt, white pepper

Preparation

Wash the peppers, halve lengthwise, remove seeds and white skin. Peel the garlic cloves.

Dice the peppers, dice the garlic and mix it all. Add the olive oil and puree, mix with cumin and season with salt and pepper.

The paste can also be made with tomatoes instead of red peppers. Peel the tomatoes and pour boiling water over them, then puree as above.

Fill the olives with paste and let them cool overnight.

Serve on a plate or an olive bowl. Insert a toothpick into each olive.

Preparation time: 30 minutes. Leave to rest for 12 hours.

Stuffed olives in crust

Ingredients for four people

• 16 stuffed olives, self-prepared (see above) or ready bought
• 50 grams of cheese (Manchego cheese)
• 100 grams flour
• 1 egg
• 50 grams butter
• Salt, cayenne pepper

Preparation

Dough: Sprinkle the flour on a work surface, grate the cheese with it or make crumbs. Mix the whole mixture together and shape a small hole into it. Into this hole add the egg, a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper. Cut the butter into small pieces and also add it to the mixture.

Then knead the ingredients into a smooth dough. Form a dough ball, wrap in foil and leave in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 175°.

Meanwhile, roll out the dough, cut out some 4x4 inch pieces to wrap the olives in.

Tip and variations

If you don’t have a rolling pin to roll out the dough, you can shape the dough into a roll and then cut it into thin slices, then wrap the olives in each slice.

Put the olives in the oven until the crust is golden brown (about 10-15 minutes).

Serve the olives in crust on a plate and garnish each with a toothpick.

The olives in crust can be served cold or warm.

Preparation time: 45 minutes. Leave to rest for 1 hour.