10 delicious ways to use olives and their oil

You'd be surprised how using olive oil or adding olives to your favourite recipes can up the flavour factor. Here are 10 easy-to-do tips to help you add a touch of the Mediterranean to your food.

1. For aromatic mashed potatoes with a rich taste, use olive oil instead of butter. Step up the flavour with a small amount of your best-quality extra-virgin olive oil.

2. To make cakes with less saturated fat, replace half of the butter with olive oil. Fruity green olive oil with a low acid content lends a rich, fruity flavour to cakes.

3. Reduce the amount of butter in your diet and do as many fine restaurants do; serve olive oil as a flavouring for bread rather than butter. Place small bowls of olive oil on the table so that people can dunk in chunks of bread.

4. To make desserts with a blend of savoury and sweet flavours, use olive oil as the fat instead of shortening or butter. Pastries, cakes and even ice cream made with olive oil, sugar, fruit and herbs achieve a tantalizing blend of sweet and savoury tastes

5. Try these hamburgers with an edge:

• Mix 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives into 500 to 750 grams (16 to 24 ounces) of ground beef.
• Shape into four patties and grill, broil or pan-fry over medium heat until the centre registers 71°C (160°F) on an instant-read thermometer and the meat is no longer pink; four to six minutes per side.

6. Give your favourite tomato sauce a deeper flavour. Stir in several pitted and chopped oil-cured olives.

7.  To give bread-machine white breads an Italian twist, add in chopped black olives, preferably oil-cured or brined-cured varieties. Also use olive oil in place of butter in the recipe.

8. Add Mediterranean flavours to rice. Cook the rice as you normally would, but add ingredients such as chopped oil-cured olives, diced roasted red peppers, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of thyme, oregano or basil.

9.  For a nearly instant topping for your next pasta dish, take 450 grams (one pound) of cooked pasta, heat 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) olive oil in a small pan, then add four thinly sliced garlic cloves. Sauté until the garlic is golden. Add a handful of freshly chopped parsley to the oil, plus salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour over the cooked pasta. Toss and serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.

10. For an exquisite dip for crackers or bread, combine in a food processor:

• 250 ml (1 cup) pitted Kalamata olives
• 500 ml (2 cups) fresh parsley leaves
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) drained capers
• 1 garlic clove
• 250 ml (1 cup) pine nuts
• 30 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 30 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice
• 2 ml (1/2 tsp) dried thyme
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) freshly ground black pepper.

Process until finely minced but not quite smooth.

No matter how you infuse olive oil and olives into your meals, you're sure to enjoy their distinctive Mediterranean flavours and healthy benefits.

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