Paula Wolfert's Herb Jam with Olives and Lemon
Looks like a jam only a mother could love, but wait till you taste it.
Parsley, denuded.
About to be joined by spinach, celery leaves, cilantro, and halved garlic cloves for a trip to the sauna. This is Wolfert's palette of greens, but fiveandspice tells us you can use whatever...
Garlic goes in first to perfume the greenery as it steams.
A whole mess of green goodness. Think of the iron!
Just a few minutes later, collapsed in a heap.
It's easy to fish out the garlic cloves -- just peel back the blanket of greens with your fork.
Then mash away.
Load the greens into a clean towel to wring the excess liquid -- but don't get crazy. A little moisture helps them get jammy.
A neat wad, and your clean kitchen towel is no longer.
Chop up your bundle...
...so it's ready to join this party -- garlic, spices and chopped oil-cured olives.
Here come the chopped greens, ready to mingle. Get in there and mash.
After a few minutes of mashing, it cooks down to this rich mulch.
All that's left is freshening up with some lemon juice.
And fresh olive oil.
A quick fluff.
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Author Notes: A genius recipe that brings new life to the herbs and greens that linger in the crisper, adapted slightly from The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen (Wiley, 2003) by Paula Wolfert. - Genius Recipes
Serves 6; makes about 1 1/2 cups
- 4 large cloves garlic, halved
- 1 pound baby spinach leaves
- 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, stems discarded
- 1/2 cup celery leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, stemmed
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 12 oil-cured black olives, pitted, rinsed, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoon Spanish sweet smoked paprika (pimenton de la Vera)
- Pinch of cayenne
- Pinch of ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or more to taste
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Put the garlic cloves in a large steamer basket set over a pan of simmering water and top with the spinach, parsley, celery, and cilantro. Cover and steam until the garlic is soft and the greens are very tender, about 15 minutes. Let cool, then squeeze the greens dry, finely chop, and set aside. Using the back of a fork, mash the garlic cloves.
- In a medium cazuela set over a flame-tamer or in a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the mashed garlic, olives, paprika, cayenne, and cumin and stir over moderately high heat for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the greens and cook, mashing and stirring, until soft and dry and somewhat smooth, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Mash in the remaining olive oil. Refrigerate, closely covered, for at least 1 day and up to 4 days.
- To serve, return to room temperature. Stir in the lemon juice and, if it seems too thick, thin to a spreadable consistency with water or olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pack in a serving dish and serve with crackers or semolina bread.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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5 months ago Andrea Eisen
Can this recipe be canned and saved? I am in the midst of growing season in Florida and this sounds like a perfect accompaniment to the tomato preserves and sauce I have already canned.
5 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
I don't think there's enough acid in this to safely water-bath can it, but maybe a pressure canner could work -- you could try asking the Hotline: http://food52.com/hotline
Alternately, I think this would freeze well!
9 months ago Esabrams
This was a great recipe for us. We didn't have any parsley and used mint instead. It worked great. This is a pretty forgiving recipe, and while dill might be a bit much, there's a fair amount of flex.
over 1 year ago Cookie16
There's a lot of places to put it, but I'm also thinking not here. Too many strong flavors are going on I'm thinking. The may compliment each other now, but maybe not with the addition of another.
Dill is my obsession, I love it so much. Mix it with cream cheese, throw it on a cucumber sandwich, infuse alcohol, or sprinkle some chopped on a nice open-faced, sunny-side up egg sandwich with a bright slice of tomato. Mix it into butter and slather it on a bit on a piece of crusty bread with a sprinkle of salt. I think I'll go create a dill blog now!
over 1 year ago goodie
my most usual left over herb is dill. do you think it would go here. too much could be overwhelming i think. any other ideas for left over dill?
over 1 year ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
I think some dill would work in this, but you're right -- too much would get a little intense. I bet leftover dill would be a nice thing to infuse into vodka -- maybe with cucumber?