We had the pleasure of eating at a little Greek spot in Indianapolis, Canal Bistro. While we were pouring over the menu, one of the servers walked through the dining room with a pan that smelled amazing with these bubbling olives inside. The destination was the table next to us. I cannot express how wonderful the smell was. The rosemary, the garlic…I had to try it. We ordered this one, and honestly, I could have made it a meal.
#RestaurantCopyCat #GreekGoodness
Fast forward to our getting home, I had to try and recreate this wonderful dish. I think I’ve nailed it. This one never fails when I serve it at parties. I have shared the recipe so many times. A couple of highlights for this recipe:
- Don’t add the lemon juice or zest until the very last step. If you burn the zest, this dish will have a very bitter flavor that you cannot recover from. Take it from someone who found that out the hard way. There’s nothing worse than starting with all of the wonderful smells to only taste and realize you really messed up.
- I highly encourage fresh herbs. I have used dried in a pinch. It does work. You will want to add the dried herbs with the garlic if so. The flavor will not be quite the same but it’s still pretty good.
- I like serving these with mini Naans. I place them in a skillet to get them very lightly toasted. This makes them still soft but nice and warm to balance the olives. They served them warm at the restaurant so I can’t help but love them this way.
If you find yourself in Indianapolis, I encourage you to stop by this restaurant for a meal. The staff was delightful and the food was so tasty.
Sizzling Olives
Ingredients
- 6 oz Pitted Kalamata Olives
- 6 oz Pitted Green Olives
- ½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 1 Lemon
- 6 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary
- 3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Instructions
- Cut the Rosemary and Thyme stems into thirds. Set aside
- Finely chop 4 cloves garlic.
- Zest the lemon and set aside. Juice the lemon and set aside.
- Drain the olives and set aside.
- In a skillet on medium high heat, add the olive oil and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the thyme, rosemary, olives to the oil and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the lemon and zest to the olive oil and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat, add to bowl and serve with warm pitas.
Notes
