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)

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Zucchini Flower Lasagna recipe
August 28, 2020 In Pasta, Recipes, Summer

Zucchini Flower Lasagna

This is wonderful summer dish, rich and satisfying. Eat warm, and pair with a bitter green salad and a cold red fruity wine. Serves 4.

INGREDIENTS

Approx 15 x egg lasagna sheets (either fresh or dried)
250g mozzarella, thinly sliced
600ml bechamel sauce (click here for a foundation post for bechemel made with olive oil)
50g parmesan, grated
1 garlic clove
1 sprig of thyme
300g zucchini, thinly sliced (works better with the pale romanesco variety)
Approx. 20 zucchini flowers
A slice of lemon rind
Seasoning to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

METHOD

Gently sauté the clove of garlic in a large glug of EVOO until it begins to turn in colour.  Remove it, then add the sliced zucchini, the thyme and the lemon rind and sautéed until they begin to soften (for about 5 minutes), then turn off the heat.  Remove the lemon rind and thyme.  Season to taste.

 

Select the best looking zucchini flowers for the top layer of the lasagna (about 6 flowers) and roughly slice the others and them stir them through with the zucchini.

 

Layer the lasagna as follows:

 

Bechamel, lasagna sheets, zucchini mix, mozzarella slices, and repeat until you get to the last layer.  Here you place the set aside zucchini flowers, a bit more béchamel and the parmesan.

 

Cover the dish with tin foil and cook in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes.  Then remove the foil and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes.

 

Serve warm with a bitter green salad.