How to Pit Olives

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You can use them for salads, homemade pizza, sandwiches or dips. They’re tasty and healthy – pretty much a dream ingredient for your menu. But you should learn how to pit olives to cook with them. Because it wouldn’t be great for your guests to find an olive with a pit on their plate, right?

Before you think about buying your olives already pitted, you need to find this out: already pitted olives are unhealthier than unpitted ones because they are more exposed to the brine, the salty solution in which they’re marinated. And the brine also influences their texture in a negative way, making them less tasty too.

Olives are very healthy for you, so it’s a good idea to include them in your diet. They’re rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and even some small doses of selenium and zinc minerals. The antioxidants help lower bad cholesterol levels and protect your heart from disease in the process. They also have monounsaturated fats, which shrink the risk of arteriosclerosis and increase your good cholesterol levels.

Of course, there are many types of olives out there and the process of pitting them must be adapted to the olive variety you’re using. Dark types like Niçoise and kalamata are easier to pit because they ripen on the tree and their flesh is softer.

Green olives are picked before they are ripe, which means their flesh is denser and it’s harder to remove their pits.

How to pit dark olives in 5 steps

1.Choose a flat surface

If you want to do this in one fell swoop, use a baking shit with a rim – so they don’t get away from you. Cover it with a damp kitchen towel or paper towel – so the olives don’t move too much when you pit them.

2.Place the olives

Put the olives you want to pit on the baking sheet.

3.Cover the olives

Use a paper towel or a kitchen towel to cover the olives.

4.Smash!

Well, not exactly smash, but use a rolling pin or a small saucepan to press on the olives to flatten them. The flesh of the olives will crack a little and the pits will exit them.

5.Throw the pits

Pick the pits out and throw them away. And you’re good to go!

How to pit green olives

Unfortunately, you have to pit them individually. Place each olive on the cutting board and use a knife to slice one side of it, through the pit. Do that all around the olive.

If you need to have perfectly-looking olives for presentation purposes, then your only option is an olive-pitter. And if you get one, know you can use it for cherries and other fruit with small pits!

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