Just Add Olio Nuovo

How to use freshly pressed olive oil and where to buy it. Plus a new recipe for Bay Leaf-Infused Olive Oil Gelato

Animated illustration from the super-talented Daniela Bracco

Benvenuti! Welcome to Buona Domenica, a weekly newsletter of inspired Italian home cooking. I’m Domenica Marchetti, journalist, cooking instructor, occasional tour guide, and author of eight cookbooks on Italian cuisine. Enjoy this week’s post, which contains lots of delicious information on using olio nuovo—new harvest olive oil. For paid subscribers, there is also a new recipe: Bay Leaf-Infused Olive Oil Gelato. If you would like access to this recipe, all archived recipes, and perks such as cookbook giveaways and discounts on online classes, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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In October my mind always turns to my friend Francesca Di Nisio, a producer of olive oil in Abruzzo. I wrote about Francesca’s dedication—no, devotion—to olive oil in Preserving Italy and I always hear her words at this time of year, when Italians throughout the peninsula and the islands are out gently shaking ripe olives off their trees and rushing them to press.

“For us Italians, olive oil is a sacred substance,” she told me when I interviewed her back in 2015. “We are anointed with it at our birth and our death. It is present at the opening and closing of our lives and it nourishes us throughout.”

At the end of an endless day hand-raking olives off her trees (she is one of the few who still harvest olives without mechanical rakes or tree shakers), Francesca and the small crew that works with her are rewarded with the first taste of freshly pressed olio nuovo (new oil). “We bring it back to our homes and we have an early breakfast of bread and fresh olive oil. Can you imagine anything better?” she told me.

Frankly, no. Freshly pressed olive oil truly is a sacred substance. Rolando Beramendi, who imports top-quality Italian foods to some of the best restaurants and gourmet shops in the U.S., and whom I profiled here, describes olio nuovo this way in his book Autentico: Cooking Italian the Authentic Way: “Gutsy, almost angry, and bright green, this oil should be celebrated as a ritual, a rite of passage of the seasons, a gift of nature.”

In recent years, olio nuovo has become more available to those of us who are not in Italy or in other parts of the world that are participating in the olive harvest right now. You might hunt for it in specialty shops, but, honestly, it’s easier to buy online from a trusted source (more on that below).

Olio nuovo is not an olive oil you want to sauté with or pour into a pot of ragù, for that would be like setting $35 or $45 on fire. Yes, a bottle of olio nuovo is expensive, a splurge. But that’s because excellent olive oil is expensive to produce, not to mention airfreighting it across the globe as soon as it is bottled. Beyond that, olive trees face growing threats from pests such as the deadly xylella fastidiosa bacteria, which has already killed millions of trees in Puglia.

I myself have balked at parting with $45 for a bottle of oil. But in that moment of hesitation, I hear those words of advice from the late Warren Zevon*, who appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman after being diagnosed with cancer: “Enjoy every sandwich.” For some of us, that sandwich is a slice of freshly baked or grilled bread generously anointed with olio nuovo.

* Digression: Zevon was a complicated, not entirely sympathetic, man. Here is a good posthumous profile for those who are interested.

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Fall vegetable soup garnished with Bramasole olive oil

SOME WAYS TO ENJOY OLIO NUOVO

As this post was beginning to take shape in my head some weeks ago, I received a bottle of 2022 harvest olive oil from Bramasole, the estate of Frances Mayes, the bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, her memoir of renovating a villa outside of Cortona. The bottle was part of a promotion for this year’s oil, which has just been pressed and will be sent to customers who pre-order in the next couple of months.

Having purchased Frances’s olive oil in the past, I already knew how good it is—the bottle I received, from last year’s harvest, is still bright and robust, with a peppery finish, which means it’s been properly stored. This gave me the idea to do a roundup of trustworthy sources for olio nuovo, which you’ll find below.

Much has been written about olive oil and what to look for when you buy it so that you don’t end up with the liquid petroleum jelly put out by conglomerate brands. Rather than post yet another tutorial here, I’m going to refer you to this post by

Nancy Harmon Jenkins

, who has been pressing olives from her own Tuscan farm for many years and who published a book on the subject a few years ago. The most important piece of information I can give you is that olio nuovo is not something you squirrel away for later. It should be consumed as soon as you get it.

Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy olio nuovo, plus trustworthy online sources for buying it. I’m also sharing a new recipe—for what is possibly my best gelato concoction yet: Bay Leaf-Infused Olive Oil Gelato.

The recipe for the gelato is new and therefore reserved for premium subscribers. Those of you who know my work know how much I put into the testing and writing of recipes. I hope you’ll understand why I can’t share them all for free.

Fettunta and mashed bean bruschetta

Fettunta: The purest way to enjoy newly pressed oil other than taking it in straight from the spigot is to dip pieces of bread in it. The second purest way is to make fettunta (oil-moistened bread). Grill or broil slices of good country bread until somewhat charred but still soft in the center. Rub the warm bread with a crushed clove of garlic. Pour on olio nuovo and finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Mashed bean bruschetta: Top grilled bread with mashed cooked beans (cannellini are good) to which you have added minced garlic and sage. Garnish with flaky salt and freshly ground pepper and a generous drizzle of olio nuovo. You can find instructions for cooking dried beans in this archived newsletter.

Vegetable soup: A thread of olio nuovo drizzled over a bowl of vegetable soup really does transform the dish, somehow lightening it while enhancing its flavor.

Boiled Yukon gold potatoes, steamed cauliflower, and roasted broccoli drizzled with olio nuovo and sprinkled with flaky salt

Boiled or steamed vegetables: I know, it sounds like a good way to waste your olio nuovo. But believe me when I tell you that fresh, seasonal vegetables, simply boiled or steamed, or even roasted, are excellent vehicles for new oil. I learned this from the fine folks at Agricola Santa Barbara, producers of award-winning Ligurian olive oil.

Mushroom carpaccio: Even if you don’t have access to fresh porcini (I don’t), you can still make an elegant mushroom carpaccio with big button mushrooms and olio nuovo. In this version, the mushrooms are topped with lemony gremolata and flakes of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Tagliata: When you really want to treat yourself, grill or pan-sear a beautiful rib-eye or sirloin steak, slice it against the grain, drizzle it with olio nuovo, and season with salt and pepper.

Readers: What’s your favorite way to use olio nuovo or any excellent olive oil?

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SOURCES FOR OLIO NUOVO

Here is an alphabetical list of places from which I buy new harvest oil. I trust all of these sources.

Bramasole: Frances Mayes’s estate is already taking orders for its olio nuovo. Frances and her husband, Edward, have been producing oil on the estate for more than 20 years, from trees on their property, some of which are hundreds of years old. The oil is a blend of Frantoio, Moraiolo, and Leccino olives. Its flavor is described as bright with aromas of freshly cut grass, and hints of green apple, pine nuts, and green almond. It has a bright, peppery finish. The oil is available in cases of six or twelve 500-ml bottles, and prices range from $219 to $359. Details for ordering are on the Bramasole website.

CantinArte: My friend Francesca’s olive oil is made from a blend of Lecino, Dritta, and Frantoio olives. “When I taste our oil I taste so many flavors: artichokes, bitter almonds, freshly cut grass, tomatoes,” she told me when I interviewed her. Production is small, just 4,000 to 5,000 (500-ml) bottles per year, depending on the harvest. CantinArte’s oil is available in cases of six or twelve bottles. For more information or to order, email CantiArte directly at info@cantinarte.com.

Gustiamo: Beatrice Ughi, founder of this Bronx-based online purveyor of high-quality Italian foods, tells me that olio nuovo will be arriving and available to buy in mid-November. The first to arrive will be Tratturello, a robust olive oil from Molise. Here’s Gustiamo’s description of the oil: “The aroma and taste are undeniably green, with raw almond and freshly cut grass hints and a spicy, bitter finish with black pepper reminiscences.” New oils will continue to arrive until January, the last coming from Sardinia. Here’s a link to Gustiamo’s olive oil page. To reach out, email gustiteam@gustiamo.com.

Marcelli Formaggi: The Marcelli family, like me, has roots in Abruzzo. They produce and import incredible farmstead cheeses and other products from the region. They partner with the Ursini family, in the province of Chieti, for their oil. You can order by the bottle (500 ml) or by the case (six bottles). Price for a single bottle is $45. Fiind out more here.

Olio2Go: I’m lucky that this Fairfax, VA, operation is based not far from where I live. I stop by from time to time to stock up on pantry items and good oil. But most of the shop’s business is online; Olio2Go has one of the biggest selections of top-quality Italian olive oil. Pre-orders from at least 10 producers will be available soon. Click here to find out more and to get on their notify list.

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RECIPE: BAY LEAF-INFUSED OLIVE OIL GELATO

I’ve been making ice cream and gelato combinations for awhile now, and I have to say this is one of my best. The round hebal notes of bay really complement the fruity oil. You don’t need olio nuovo to make this; a good medium to robust oil works well. I used the 2022 Bramasole oil from Frances Mayes and it had just the right amount of punch to shine through without overpowering the other flavors in the gelato.