Last Sunday I was making dinner with my friend Sonia. While she deveined shrimp, I prepared the salad. "What are you doing?" she asked as I repeatedly slammed my hand on top of a knife. I was pitting olives and surprised to learn that she had never seen anyone pit olives before. As I was teaching her my technique, I realized I should share it with you, too!
To pit olives, for making salad or tapenade, place the olive on a cutting board. Set a wide kitchen knife on top of the olive. With the palm of your hand, hit the knife hard — like you would do when peeling garlic. The pressure flattens the olive and the pit pops out easily. This method also works for cherries, but be careful, cherries produce a lot of juicy splatters. How do you pit olives?
Fontanelli
Coast
Triumph
Oh THANK YOU so much!
I have made your recipe for artichoke pasta a few times in the past, and it always took me forever to pit the kalamata olives. most of it would end up under my fingernails or still sticking to the pit.
And I feel kind of embarassed now for not coming up with this myself =P
1Thank you, I almost threw away a whole thing of olives cause they had a pit in them. I could barely eat them.
2i wish you had posted this sooner! i made cherry garcia ice cream and ended up buying a cherry pitter (which also is an olive pitter) but this could have saved me $13.
3I pit mine with a purchase of "pitted" olives...........
4I actually pit them by pushing them through a plastic slotted spatula. it can mangle them a bit but it works. your way might be easier
5I am thrilled to find this site! I just bookmarked . EW
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