The other day my funny four year old happened to be in the kitchen alone with a can of olives. I heard him say “look what happened to my nails!” And then interestingly enough, Moroccan olives came to mind and I thought “what a perfect recipe for Tu B’Shevat this year” (since it falls on Shabbat.) Thanks to my little one for the inspiration and the photo opportunity. I’ll definitely be making this myself, but now I can get the recipe to you just a bit sooner. (And I’ll try to take a photo of the actual dish, but no promises!)
Oh, and in case you are not familiar with this traditional Moroccan dish, it is generally served with the main course (of meat or chicken) as a small side dish together with rice.
Ingredients:
- 1 can of green pitted olives
- 2 large soft tomatoes, skinned
- 1/4 cup olive oil (or a bit less)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 5-6 eyes of garlic, cut in slices or chopped
- fresh lemon juice of 1/2 lemon
Preparation and Cooking:
- Peel tomatoes by soaking in boiling water until skin peels of by hand easily.
- Cook tomatoes on a low flame in the oil, stirring often, until they become a sauce. (If you are pressed for time so cut up the tomatoes to speed up the cooking time, which for whole tomatoes might take as long as 1 hour.)
- Add spices and garlic and stir and then add olives. (Olives in a can should be rinsed and well drained before using them for this dish.)
- Cook on a low flame for about 1 hour. Watch the pot to make sure there’s always enough liquid.
- Add juice of 1/2 lemon, salt to taste, and stir.
- Serve warm.
- Keep this recipe you’ll need it again!
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