LOCATION AND CLIMATE

 

As you might expect, olives grown in cooler areas where there is more moisture (rainfall and dew) exhibit leaner, more restrained characteristics.  This doesn’t however mean that great oil can now be made in Iceland – you need a minimum amount of sunshine to make your Extra Virgin Olive Oil taste remarkable, similarly to tomatoes or stone fruit.

Olive trees are sensitive to winter freeze (the Casaliva cultivar is more resistant to cold, hence being grown in the Garda region).  It is also easier to farm organically where the climate is more stable and less chemical sprays are required to keep the trees healthy.

OLIVE MATURITY

 

Here’s the thing – all olives are green.  When they become fully mature, they turn black.
Olive maturity at the time of harvest is a major factor in flavour and quality: olives harvested earlier (green olives) feature more bitter, grassy characteristics, with lower yields and with the highest anti-oxidant content.  The oil is a much more intense green colour and has a longer shelf-life.  In terms of production, milling can take longer with green olives (a longer malaxation - the action of slowly churning milled olives to release droplets of oil - is needed and can be more complicated) but the results are far superior!  Don’t choose olive oil from over mature fruit: it lacks all the potential goodness and flavour.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN GROVE AND MILL

 

People who care passionately about what they make and follow it personally every day have the capacity to create products with far higher quality, with integrity, and that taste of where they come from.  They are also able to do this by caring for the environment they inhabit.

FRANTOIO DI RIVA BOX

This box contains 6 bottles of extra virgin olive oil made exclusively by Frantoio di Riva from groves on the banks of lake Garda.

Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO green label x 3 bottles (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO organic white label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO blue label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, ULIVA Garda Trentino DOP x 1 bottle (50cl)

Nancy Harmon Jenkins Pasta con Mollica
November 21, 2020 In Autumn, Recipes
SPRING | SUMMER | AUTUMN | WINTER

Nancy Harmon Jenkins’ Pasta con la Mollica

Celebrated food writer and story teller Nancy Harmon Jenkins, shares her recipe for Pasta con la Mollica with the readers of The Cold Press, taking us to incredibile Calabria.  You can read our interview with Nancy Harmon Jenkins here.

 

Pasta con la Mollica (Calabria)

Nancy Harmon Jenkins

Pasta with breadcrumbs may seem like an odd combination but, as a Calabrese cook once told me: “Breadcrumbs make dishes grow.” In other words, a dish can be stretched to feed more people simply by adding breadcrumbs. Among poor country people, breadcrumbs often take the place of grated cheese; toasted in a little oil, possibly with some finely chopped almonds added, they make a pasta topping that is just as pleasing, if not so rich, as grated cheese. And the olive oil, undistracted by other flavours, really shines.

While unseasoned, commercially available breadcrumbs may be fine for many purposes, they’re not so good for a pasta topping, which benefits from the irregular texture and crunch of home-made breadcrumbs. Fortunately, breadcrumbs are very easy to make and if you produce more than you need, they store well in the freezer. Using stale, country-style white bread, cut off the crusts if they are very thick and crusty, then slice the white crumb of the bread into big cubes and process with quick spurts in a food processor until the crumbs are the desired consistency.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1 cup unflavoured bread crumbs, preferably home-made

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil.  (We used Dradista from the Librandi Family)

1 garlic clove, chopped

8 salted anchovies, rinsed, filleted and chopped; or 16 fillets of oil-

packed anchovies, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato concentrate

1/2 cup coarsely chopped black olives

2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped

Sea salt

500 g. short, stubby pasta (e.g., penne, ziti and the like)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup minced flat-leaf parsley, or parsley and fresh basil mixed

 

Add the breadcrumbs to a skillet and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until they start to turn golden. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and continue cooking and stirring until the breadcrumbs are fully golden brown and crisp. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In another skillet, add 2 more tablespoons of oil and the garlic. Set over medium-low heat and cook very gently, stirring, until the garlic softens, then stir in the chopped anchovies. Cook gently, crushing the anchovies in the oil with a fork to make a creamy paste. Add the tomato concentrate, olives and capers and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring 6 quarts (a large pan) of salted water to a rolling boil and add the pasta. Just before the pasta is done, set the anchovy-olive sauce over medium-low heat to come to a simmer before dressing the pasta. Add 2 tablespoons of hot pasta water to the sauce and continue simmering while you finish the pasta. Have ready a warm bowl for the pasta.

Drain the pasta and transfer immediately to the warm bowl. Add half the sautéed breadcrumbs and toss, then add the anchovy-olive sauce and lots of black pepper and toss again. Garnish with the remaining crisp breadcrumbs and the minced herbs, dress with a spoonful of olive oil, and serve immediately.