This olive recipe is perfect with a crisp white or a chilled sparkling wine. As it marinates in the fridge the fragrant toasted coriander seeds infuse the olives and feta. Best made a day ahead.
1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
2 preserved lemons, specialty stores, but keeps in fridge once open
1 block of Greek feta, not the creamy type*
10 Black peppercorns
½ teaspoon of dried oregano
2 370g jars of large green olives in brine, drained*
½ cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
- Toast the coriander in a frying pan until it smells delicious, and you can see them beginning to brown.
- Scrape the preserved lemons of their flesh and discard them, rinse. Dice the preserved rinds.
- Cube the feta so each block is about half the size of each olive.
- In a large bowl, gently toss all the ingredients together.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge and serve as needed. These should keep well for two weeks. If you need them to keep longer you can cover with olive oil, and then keep until the expiration date of the feta.
Makes: 4 cups
Notes: Add these to the table with a stack of picks, a bowl of pistachios and a few empty bowls for olive stones, pistachio shells and used food picks.
I used Zany Zeus Classic Feta, the block weighed 168g.
I have used Sandhurst Whole Sicilian and Ghiotti Green Giant olives. Look for a large green olive with stone-in if you can’t find these. Preserved lemons are available from some supermarkets but are pretty standard at specialty stores. The feta I used is: Zany Zeus Classic
