Herb-Marinated Olives

I love most things Spanish. I also love all things olive, except for the olive fruit itself! But this just looked so pretty that I had to try it. And since all our guests at lunch this afternoon were olive fans, it was a good opportunity to try it. 

This recipe was taken from Jose Andrés book Made in Spain. 

To quote him: Olives grow throughout Spain, and the varieties from each region have distinct flavors. Pick your favorite olives for this dish– as long as they're from Spain. Here I've used a selection of the country's best varieties.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 orange
5 garlic cloves
1 cup Empeltre or any black cured olive
1 cup Arbequina or any small green olive
1 cup Manzanilla olives (large green olive also known as Spanish olives)
2 bay leafs
3 fresh thyme sprigs, broken up with your fingers
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, broken up with your fingers
1 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, preferably of Arbequina variety
2 tbsp Marcona almonds
Coarse sea salt, to taste


Method
Using a vegetable peeler remove the zest from half an orange and then squeeze the juice of the entire orange into a bowl.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves using the back of a knife and add it to the bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate overnight or at least 4 hours. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Be sure to bring the olives to room temperature before serving.
Garnish with the almonds and salt (if required).

For dinner my husband created an open faced sandwich for us– some fresh salad tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, avocado and these marinated olives.