Interesting Facts about Leccino Olives
Leccino is one of Italy’s oldest varieties of olives, with first reference to Leccino olive trees being grown in the Middle Ages! It is one of the most popular varieties of olive used to make olive oil but Leccino olives have quite a subtle flavour so they’re often paired with other varieties like frantoio and picual to create a flavourful olive oil. Leccino olive trees are well suited to the Australian climate and produce well when given the right conditions.
At Green Olive at Red Hill, we grow Leccino olives in our olive grove and cold press them to create extra virgin olive oil which we use in our grazing plates and body products, and which we sell on its own for visitors to take home. Cold pressing the olives allows us to extract the oil without damaging the antioxidants, creating healthy and flavourful olive oil to nourish family and friends.
The other varieties of olives that we grow are Frantoio, Picual, Manzanilla and Kalamata, each labelled with coloured tags that are the same ones that were written by Sue’s grandfather, Cyril, when the olive grove was planted all those years ago. Check out the range of products we create with the goodness of our olive grove:
Mixed Olive and Herb Biscotti
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 270g Green Olive Mixed Olives
- A pinch of Green Olive Herb Salt
- 1 cup pecorino, grated
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 160° In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, olives, Herb Salt and pecorino. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, add the eggs and milk and mix well. Place the mixture into a square baking tin lined with baking paper and cook for 30 minutes or until golden.
- Line 3 baking trays with baking paper. When slightly cool, remove the dough from the tin and cut into 2mm thick pieces. Place on the baking trays and cook for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Recipe modified from the original by Donna Hay.