Lemon and Rosemary Marinated Olives

The idea for this was introduced to me from another good friend with a Costco membership. At one point, Costco had these wonderful olives that were marinated with lemons and rosemary – that’s about all I can remember. I searched everywhere online to find them so I could try to recreate, but it appears they do not have them any longer. No worries – my husband and I actually enjoyed these much more.

First things first, your olives. I would recommend trying to find ones that are already pitted just to save time. You can choose any varieties you like. For this one I used, whole, plain Kalamata and Castelvetrano (un-brined and un-seasoned), some Picual pieces as well as Spanish Manzanilla. It’s good to get a variety of flavors as well as colors. I placed them all in a bowl draining most of the juices. I squeezed 1/2 a fresh lemon into the bowl and mixed. My lemons are very juicy, so you might want a whole lemon.

I added about 1.5 oz of sun dried tomatoes. I used the bag of dried, julienne-cut. Then, I dug through my stash of garden herbs I dried from last year and added a large pinch of both thyme and lemon thyme. Throw in a little less than than a tbsp of minced garlic and just a couple pieces of artichoke heart (chopped up).

Chop up a few pieces of fresh rosemary and stir in with the other ingredients. Slice a lemon into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Place your lemon pieces, olives and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary into a canning jar and top with olive oil. Shake well. I would let it marinate a couple of days before using. You can put in the fridge if you want, but if you are using a good quality olive oil, chances are it will solidify. I left mine on the counter for the week and turned it over a couple of times to mix it up. I love to eat these with a fork or I also love to make bruschetta with this.