New food lesson: when trying to make a meal in the time indicated on the recipe (7 minutes, not including pasta cooking time), use pre-pitted oil-cured olives.
Otherwise, one has ten minutes or more of olive-y frustration as one individually pits the olives. Okay, maybe it would be faster if I had some sort of pitting device. But no. I had only a Wusthof 8" chef's knife, a wooden cutting board from Ikea, and a resolution to ignore my mild sensory defensiveness no matter how dirty/greasy my hand became (in a nod to my obsessive need to wipe my hands after each olive, I dedicated my right hand to holding the knife, so at least one hand would feel clean).
But it was worth it. Following our heroine, Lydia Mattichio Bastianich (our house motto is WWLBD - "what would Lydia Bastianich do?"), we decided to make a recipe out of Lydia's Family Table. I made spaghetti in an orange and olive sauce. Oil-cured olive bits go into a pan with browned sliced garlic, then orange zest, orange juice, and toasted pine nuts are added (not to mention pasta water!). It is absolutely delicious.
Someday, when I'm not just cooking for the two of us, I'm making the breaded salt fish from Lydia's Italy.
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I have an olive pitter, and it's not any faster than squishing a bunch of olives beneath the flat of one's chef's knife. This only works when you're planning on chopping the olives anyhow; for pretty presentation, a pitter comes in handy.
Also I love me some Lidia Bastianich. I found PBS Create on my cable lineup and can now watch her show again. YAY!
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