Growing up, I loved two things, green olives and sardines. I kid you not, I would choose either of these items over ice cream as a little girl. As I have grown, my love of sardines has faded, but not my affinity for olives. I would crave them when I was pregnant with my boys. Normally, I am happy just eating them by the handfuls alone in their natural beauty, but every once in a while I like to get creative and find new ways to enjoy them. Olives from Spain recently sent me some of the black and green olives to try out, and I decided to put together a few quick olive recipes to share with all of you.

About Olives from Spain


Can't you just picture a villa in Spain surrounded by a grove of olive trees and a warm breeze blowing through their leaves, and you, sitting in the shade under one such tree enjoying a picnic in the grass with some of the most delicious ripe olives you've ever tasted? While I can't guarantee you a ticket to Spain, I can guarantee that Olives from Spain will be some of the most delicious you have ever tasted.

Spain's sunny weather, temperate winters and their fertile soil are the perfect condition for growing delicious olives. Spain is the leading producer of olive for export in the world, and 95% of the stuffed pimento olives that we consume in America come from Spain. Each olive is handpicked just before it is fully ripe to ensure maximum freshness and taste, and they make a nutritious snack with only 35 calories per serving and 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat (that's the healthy kind.) We enjoyed eating a few cans of both the black and green Olives from Spain, and then we used a few more to whip up the following delicious recipes!

Five Cheese Alfredo Olive Pizza


Ingredients:


Store bought pizza crust
Alfredo sauce
Olives from Spain black olives
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Aged Vermont white cheddar cheese
New Zealander cheese
Parmentino cheese
Asiago cheese

*Note: I used Sargento tasting cheeses, because they were small and provided the perfect amount of cheese for our pizzas.

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Slice the Olives from Spain black olives.


3. Brush your store bought pizza crust with some olive oil.

4. Spread a layer of Alfredo sauce along the bottom of your pizza crust.

5. Put some shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce distributing it evening across the crust.

6. Using a cheese grater, add as much of the four remaining types of cheese to your pizza as you wish.


7. Top with olives and cook for 8 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.


Stuffed Green Olives


Ingredients:

Pepperoni
Bruschetta Jack cheese
Olives from Spain green olives

Instructions:

1. Using a knife, make slight cuts to the round opening in each green olive. This helps to provide some give when you are stuffing the olives.

2. Slice the Bruschetta Jack cheese into very thin slices.


3. Cut a piece of pepperoni in half and wrap a small stick of cheese inside. Roll until it is in a thin stick shape.


4. Place the rolled pepperoni and cheese into the center of the olive.

Both of these recipes turned out great and were enjoyed by the whole family. Olives from Spain are no strangers to good food. Later this month they are headed to the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, so if you're there, be sure to stop by their station to sample some tasty bites!

Want more recipes or inspiration, visit the Olives from Spain website and Pinterest account. Do you have a favorite olive recipe? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.


Compensation was provided by Olives from Spain via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Olives from Spain or Momtrends.