Growing up, the only cooking oil my parents used was sunflower oil. It had a golden deep color with a rather fragrant scent. You are not going to find that type of sunflower oil at your local grocery store. Sorry. See if there is a Russian or Ukrainian store in your neighborhood and go there.
Although we had olives, which I used to hate as a little girl, we did not taste olive oil until we moved to the US. I'm pretty sure that in the very beginning we purchased whichever olive oil was on sale, but later we realized that the extra virgin olive oil that actually tasted good and was good for you was worth a few extra dollars.
Now that I'm all grown up and have a kitchen of my own {and LOVE olives}, I can't remember the last time I didn't have olive oil in my kitchen. I use it for sauteeing, dressing the salads or drizzling on top of dips.
When I received an email asking if I'd like to taste test
"Squadra Italiana" olive oil set from Nudo Italia I said yes! The set included three absolutely adorable tins of oils:
- Nudo first press extra virgin olive oil
- Extra virgin olive oil with Sicilian Chillies
- Extra virgin olive oil stone ground with fresh basil
I enjoyed the basil flavored olive oil drizzled on top of my tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad, but wanted to do something a bit more fun with the oil with chillies. Since I already had fresh mozzarella balls, I decided to marinate them. This recipe is incredibly easy, so do try it!
Ingredients
10 mini mozzarella balls
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 lemon slices
enough Nudo Olio D'Oliva Extra Vergine With Chillies to cover the mozzarella balls
extra red pepper flakes, optional
Directions
1. Place the mini mozzarella balls into a glass jar.
2. Add garlic and lemon slices to the mozzarella balls.
3. Cover everything with olive oil and add pepper flakes if you want even more heat.
4. Mix.
5. Refrigerate covered for at least a few hours.
6. Use these balls in salads or as an appetizer.
Note: the oil will most likely solidify while in the refrigerator. Do not freak out. It's completely fine. Just let the glass jar stand on your counter for about ten minutes before serving the mozzarella balls. Also, don't throw out the leftover marinate: use it in salads as dressing or for your next stir fry.
Do you have a favorite flavored olive oil?
Disclosure: I received a set of these oils as a gift from Nudo Italia, but was under no pressure to share my opinion with you. I just really liked the flavors and the packaging. I was not reimbursed in any way for this post.
3 comments:
Hi Mango, I'm sort of a neighbor, living in close-in in Silver Spring. Am a big fan of your blog and especially of your beautiful food photos. But, on the Nudo oil post above, I would have thought it would be worth noting that Nudo has an adopt the tree program, which may well be unique. Okay, it may be a marketing gimmick but it's also very interesting. Here's what they say:
"Nudo is a collective of olive groves. And part of it can be yours.
Adopt one of its trees for a year and you'll receive all the produce from your tree.
Imagine dunking your bread in your own oil from your own tree thousands of miles
away on a hillside in Italy. It's delicious, it's good for the world and you get to show
off to your friends.
Hang the consequences. Adopt an olive tree."
It's a novelty for sure but if you trust them, it overcomes the recent issues with how reliable some EVOOs actually are. I tried their EVOO and liked it though I didn't think it was exceptional. However, I like producer cooperatives and have worked with them in developing countries. They're important for family farms.
Looks delish! I love flavored olive oils and marinated mozzarella totally rocks!
Yum. That looks so good! I saw something recently where someone cut off the top of a big can of olive oil like that (once the oil was finished) and used it to hold utensils. Those would be really pretty on a counter!
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