Lindsay Olives Summer Party

This is an exciting week for me and MarocMama, it’s a full week of olive love! It should come as no surprise to many that we eat a lot of olives. Morocco is well known for their olives and olive oil. I always come home with kilos of them in my suitcase. But they only last so long. My go-to olives have always been the Lindsay brand, just like they were for my mom and grandma. I didn’t even realize until I was a grown-up and doing my own shopping that there was another brand of olives! So when I headed to Washington DC a few months ago for Eat, Write, Retreat and learned Lindsay was one of the sponsors I was so excited. After gushing about my love affair to the lovely Lindsay ladies we put together a great idea for posts featuring olives and summer parties. So get your party hats on because I’ve got some great ideas for your summer parties.

Olives are great for summer or winter but I think they are an obvious choice for summer entertaining. All of the recipes I’ve created can be made without turning on your oven or range (but you certainly can use your oven if needed). But you will need your grill and a slow-cooker. (Who wants to be inside in summer? Not me!) They also are all recipes that can be done quickly and made for a large crowd.

I’ve used a variety of Lindsay Olive products that I got in my local grocery store. So if I can find them in my rural Midwestern grocery you’ll be able to find them in your local stores as well.

So let’s get the party started! Today’s recipe is for a Cheesy Olive Spread Crostini. You can make the spread ahead of time and store until ready to put together.

Ingredients

1/2 can Lindsay Black Olive Naturals
3 oz cream cheese
3 oz ricotta cheese
1 tsp crushed garlic
pinch of salt and pepper
French Baguette
melted butter or olive oil for brushing bread

Directions

In a food processor blend together ricotta and cream cheeses, salt and pepper and garlic. Slice baguette into 1/4 – 1/2″ slices. If not using right away place cheese topping into refrigerator. When ready to serve, turn on your grill to medium heat. If using charcoal make sure the coals are hot but that no flames are coming over the grate. Brush the bottom of each slice of baguette with butter or olive oil and spread the top with the cheese. Place onto the grill and cover. Cook until the bottoms of the bread are brown and crunchy. The cheese top should be slightly melted. Remove from heat once cooked and serve immediately.

**You can add a variety of herbs and spices to the cheese mixture to create a different flavor. Some ideas include basil, thyme, chili pepper, or lemon juice.

Tomorrow I will be sharing a main dish course that is incredibly easy but loaded with lots of flavor that uses Lindsay’s Manzanilla green olives. Also I will be posting a giveaway for a Lindsay summer pack for one lucky reader to snag a variety of Lindsay products for your summer parties.

*Disclaimer: I was compensated by Lindsay Olives to create these recipes and share these posts. As always I do not endorse products that I do not believe in. All recipes are my own creations for this post series.

Comments

umm imran says:

July 25, 2011 at 6:43 pm

oh masha`allah … i would love to try this for the family … unfortunately i myself dont live olives … but with the family it will go down a treat

Krisha@Fire Proof Safe Shop says:

July 26, 2011 at 5:40 am

Ooh, looks so appetizing! I’ll try to serve it this weekend on get together with BFFs. Gonna grab some olives at the grocery. Thanks for the recipe!

Cassandra @ Best Cookware Deals says:

July 26, 2011 at 6:57 am

Wow your Cheesy Olive Spread Crostini looks absolutely delicious!I love olives and I can’t wait to try this recipe. Kids will surely enjoy this too! Thank you for sharing this Marocmama!