Olive Oil Giveaway! – Eggplant with Mint and Olive Oil

August 4, 2010  •  Condiments, Side Dishes, Vegetables

It’s with great pleasure that I introduce today a new sponsor of the Cooking with Michele® blog – Gourmet Cooking & Living, those great folks who import wonderful high quality extra virgin olive oil from Italy. I’ve been a fan for years, and love when my monthly shipment arrives from their Olive Oil of the Month Club. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you’ve heard me mention them on numerous occasions. Beginning this month, Gourmet Cooking & Living will be shipping a bottle of the monthly selection of their olive oil to one lucky reader of this blog. I’ll create a recipe to highlight the oil, you comment, we pick a random winner and you’ll be shipped your oil directly. So without further delay, let’s begin!How appropriate that the first olive oil I’m writing about – the one you have an opportunity to receive for free! – is Colli Etruschi Extra Virgin Olive Oil Classico. It comes from Lazio, that region of Italy that’s home to Rome, my favorite city in the world. Gourmet Cooking & Living says that it’s “marked by well-balanced bitter and spicy notes, it has a sweet almond finish. It’s excellent on salads, steamed shellfish, seafood appetizers, vegetable purees, mushroom dishes, roasted fish, and grilled lamb.”I’ve been wanting to post this recipe from my last trip to Italy for you – this olive oil seemed a perfect match. I don’t really like eggplant in any other dish except this one – I think because the eggplant is cooked in a dry skillet until it’s just about dehydrated so it loses that spongy texture that I don’t care for. You have to slice them really thin – use a mandoline if you have one.You can see from looking at these cooked discs that most of the moisture is gone.And then in the very simple style that is often the essence of Italian cooking, dress the eggplant with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, a generous handful of chopped mint, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. In Lecce, Giuseppe douses his in plenty of olive oil that’s been infused with the chile – I like a slightly lighter hand. Then sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and enjoy!

To join the Gourmet Cooking & Living Olive Oil of the Month Club, click here.

To enter the drawing for a free bottle of this month’s selection of COLLI ETRUSCHI EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL CLASSICO, leave a comment about your favorite way to enjoy extra virgin olive oil from Italy below! Oil will only be shipped in the US so please no international entries at this time. Winner will be selected on Friday, August 6th at noon, so hurry and comment now!

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Comments

11 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Laura Bloom says:

    My absolute favorite way to enjoy fine extra virgin olive oil, is a last minute, generous, drizzle on a bowl of hot, soft polenta or a lovely pappardelle and spring vegetable dish. This final touch is what makes the dish. (Here’s one I love – Hugo Matheson’s recipe for The Kitchen’s Vegetable Pappardelle that calls for an extra “glug” at the end. Scroll down to the 2008 recipe selection at http://www.ediblecommunities.com/frontrange/recipes/recipes.htm) [Not sure if the website you wanted above was the site on which I entered this contest, which is what I gave you, or my own personal website. But, since few people have their own, I figured you meant the first.]

  2. Lisa stover says:

    I’ve been taking advantage of all the fresh seafood in New England. Fresh swordfish, olive oil, lemon and whatever herbs are on hand … It’s the best.

  3. Jan says:

    My favorite way to enjoy extra virgin olive oil is in and on homemade basil pesto

  4. m says:

    On bread

  5. Robert Hartman says:

    What more to say other than Bruschetta. A great olive oil is essential to this dish. Thank you Michele for sharing your eggplant recipe. It looks delicious and one I will try shortly.

  6. Whitney says:

    I use olive oil to toss with all the veggies (coat generously) that are ready in my garden that day. I put them on a cookie sheet with shallow sides with sea salt and pepper and on to the grill. Serve up with a crusty (grilled) bread! If you have enough tomatoes it will make a ragu for you to coat the veggies and for you to dip your bread in! YUMMY!

  7. Angie says:

    I live to drizzle olive oil on baby new red potatoes and roast them with dill. Yum!

  8. Michelle Cuthbertson says:

    With the most peppery, fruity extra virgin olive oil I’ve ever had, I had a transcendent ciabatta experience that I’ll never forget! Now I look forward to the moment when my fresh ciabatta has been out of the oven just long enough to let the crumb feel cool and smooth on my lips and I savor hunks of bread dipped in just olive oil (but sometimes I add cracked pepper if the variety on hand is mellow and smooth).

  9. Elizabeth says:

    I use olive oil all the time. I often drizzle it over new potatoes, toss them with Kosher salt, and then grill them to perfection. But that is with just any old olive oil. My favorite way to use high quality olive oil is to simply dip rustic bread in it and snack away. Yum!

  10. Stacey says:

    One of my favorite uses of olive oil is to drizzle it over root vegetables and roast them in the oven. Delicious!

  11. Kelly says:

    My favorite use of extra virgin olive oil is in homemade hummus with an extra drizzle on top.