(I really hate olives, yet I find this Olive Loaf delicious!)
- Serves 4 - Ready in 2 hours but if you want to cut the olive loaf neatly, make the loaf an extra hour ahead, and start the Kilitheraki after the bread is out of the oven, so you can give the loaf an hour to cool before slicing, totalling 3 hours recipe time -
Gather together for the Olive Loaf…
1 cup (170g equivalent weight) strong white flour (or just use plain flour in its place if you don't have specialist flour).
1 cup (170g equivalent weight) plain white flour.
2 tsp baking powder, sieved to avoid lumps.
½ cup spring onions / chives, quite finely chopped (I chop and freeze the rest of the bunch for future recipes).
½ cup Coriander, chopped, (I grow / buy herbs in bulk and then chop and freeze them, so they are ready to use quickly in recipes).
½ cup vegetable oil (or use olive oil, but it is pricey).
Juice from 2 oranges, circa 1/2 a cup (125ml) - have the leftover de-juiced orange halves as a snack.
1 cup (250g) black de-stoned olives, RINSED WELL in a sieve or colander.
Get cooking the Olive Loaf…
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C (160 C fan) or Gas 4.
2. Line a 900g loaf tin (9"x5") with a greaseproof paper liner (you can get a reusable loaf tin liner, but it is a bit fiddly to use and your loaf will come out rather oddly shaped as the excess material folds in on itself - we happily use one but I thought I'd warn you!).
3. Mix all of the loaf ingredients together in a large bowl; 1 cup of strong white bread flour, 1 cup of plain flour, 2 tsp of baking powder (sieved), 1/2 a cup of spring onion pieces / chopped chives, 1/2 a cup of chopped Coriander, 1/2 a cup of oil, the juice from 2 oranges (1/2 cup / 125ml) and 1 cup of black, de-stoned olives (rinsed well). No kneading is required! Just mix with a spoon.
4. Tip the mixture into the lined loaf tin.
5. Bake for approximately 60 minutes (or until the accompanying klitharaki is ready, which may mean the loaf gets baked for a bit longer, which is fine). If the loaf is still too light in colour after baking, set the grill to HIGH and grill it for 2 - 3 minutes to brown it, but keep your eye on it!
6. Whilst the Olive Loaf is baking, start to make the Klitheraki (as the loaf takes longer to bake, so it needs a head-start). If the loaf finishes baking before the Klitheraki does, remove the loaf from the oven and let it sit in the tin to cool.
Gather together for the Klitheraki…
1 onion, diced (to save time day-to-day, I keep a big box of onions I've chopped ahead-of-time, in the freezer, so I throw in two handfuls of those).
2 garlic cloves (peeled and diced) or 4 tsp lazy garlic.
1 tbsp rapeseed oil / olive oil.
250g Quorn mince (frozen).
250g (1 and 1/3 cups) ‘Orzo’ pasta (pasta that looks like rice).
1 big handful of fresh / frozen Mint leaves (discard the stalks), chopped. (I grow / buy herbs in bulk and then chop and freeze them, so they are ready to use quickly in recipes).
1 stock cube or 2tsp 'Marigold Less Salt Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder' (available in bulk 1kg tubs).
600ml boiling water.
2 tins of chopped tomatoes.
480g jar of ready-made white sauce.
Pinch of black pepper.
100g Wensleydale cheese, crumbled (it is less salty than feta or halloumi).
1 tbsp (yes, TABLESPOON) of ground cinnamon.
Serve with...
Olive Loaf.
or;
Oven-baked potato slices.
plus;
Green salad leaves.
Get cooking the Klitheraki…
1. In a large, oven-proof, lidded pan on the hob, soften the onion pieces and the two chopped cloves of garlic gently, in the 1 tbsp of oil, on LOW, for 10 minutes. Frozen onion will take slightly longer to soften.
2. Boil a full kettle ready for the stock.
3. Add the 250g of Quorn mince and stir for 1 minute, to start defrosting it.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 C (160 C fan) or to Gas 4 - if it isn't already on (for the bread).
5.Turn OFF the hob (temporarily), add the 250g (1 and 1/3 cups) of orzo pasta and stir well.
6. Add the big handful of chopped, (preferably fresh) Mint leaves, sieve in the 2 tsp of dry stock powder to avoid clumps, add the 600ml boiling water and the two tins of chopped tomatoes. Turn the hob ON again, this time to medium.
7. Bring the pan to a simmer on the hob (this will take circa 10 minutes), STIRRING every minute, right to the bottom of the pan to stop the pasta sticking. Turn off the hob.
8. Put the pan in the oven with the LID ON, for 20 minutes, until the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid. Then temporarily remove the pan from the oven. If the mixture looks too liquidy, stir often whilst you boil the pan uncovered for 5 minutes on the hob (you don't want the white sauce to sink into the liquidy pasta, when you add it shortly!)
9. Pour on the 480g of white sauce - DO NOT STIR - and spread it out over the top of the mince-mixture. Flavour with a pinch of ground pepper.
10. Sprinkle the 100g of crumbled cheese on top.
11. Finish with plenty of cinnamon (1 tbsp) sprinkled on (so that the top is almost fully covered in brown!) Use the back of a spoon to swirl the cinnamon through the top layer of cheese/white sauce - so that the cinnamon isn't simply sitting on top, or it will burn.
12. If not serving with Olive Loaf, then chop un-peeled potatoes into slices, cover in oil and put at the top of the oven on a tray to cook whilst the Klitheraki cooks.
13. Bake the Klitharaki in the oven, uncovered for 30 min. Check halfway through and if the top is burning, cover with an oven-proof lid / large saucepan lid.
14. Serve with the Olive Loaf (or potato slices) and green salad leaves.
Adapted from a friend's recipe, her mum back in Cyprus makes it all the time as it is a family favourite - it's a family favourite in our house too now.
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