green olive and oregano focaccia

This focaccia recipe comes from The Kitchen Diaries III by Nigel Slater. Having travelled around Lebanon, we hope Slater approves of our tweaks to the recipe. Besides, Lebanese souri green cracked olives combined with Origanum syriacum and Zejd‘s beautiful EVOO are a perfect trinity. We thought this recipe would be useful for those looking for ideas on how to use their jar of olives.

A simple focaccia is a in essence the perfect platform for these three stellar Lebanese ingredients. Bassatin Baanoub‘s oregano, being dried, gives the soft easy-to-make bread a lot more character than sprigs of thyme. Your kitchen will smell heavenly as the aroma of Origanum syriacum hits the heat in the oven. Zejd’s souri green-cracked olives will need to be pitted, but this doesn’t take long with a large flat kitchen knife. The reward is evident when you bite into the robust, creamy tasting olive in a morsel of soft bread. 

Liberally dressed with  Zejd extra virgin olive oil, made from souri olives which are a native variety in Lebanon, this oil is a blend of the green and black olives. So it isn’t as raspingly green as a lot of extra virgin olive oils, rather pleasantly grassy and peppery. It doesn’t brag or interfere with the bread, there’s no bullying about this oil. The focaccia is best enjoyed warm from the oven.This takes recipe takes 2 hrs 40 minutes, proving and cooking times included, so is doable for a weekend brunch.

A bowl of labneh and Bassatin Baanoub’s za’atar mix will come in handy for the soft bread shared with family and friends at the weekend. Served with Zejd’s pomegranate tapenade and a salad the green olive and oregano focaccia makes for a simple weekend lunch too.