2022 Harvest is here!! A Recipe with Zelli Pasta.
How is it already October. This Pasta recipe involves a paste.
Welcome to 2022 Harvest!
The olive harvest is upon us and y’all, this is our sixth harvest with EXAU! To make this even sweeter, there are a lot of new folks here after my videos went mini viral on TikTok! Welcome, we are Skyler and Giuseppe, cofounders of EXAU and chief olive lovers.
Each fall in Calabria, Italy we harvest, mill, and bottle our oils then deliver them directly to our customers in the US and Canada (!!!). But our journey to harvest doesn’t begin in October.
The olive tree buds in early spring with the fruit forming in late spring and plumping up through summer. Finally, in the fall, the olives are harvested and milled, becoming high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
But what exactly makes extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin?
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is oil extracted from the first milling of the olive fruit through mechanical means, with limited heat, and by separating olive oil from vegetable water.
TBH there’s more to it than that, if you want to get nerdy with it explore more below.
Olive Harvest and Climate Change
Last year we spoke in depth with Eater about the impacts of Climate Change on the olive oil industry. And over the past few years, harvesting olives has changed a lot due to weather. Producers in Sicily started harvesting in mid-September, incredibly early. For context, most ‘early’ olive mills don’t open their doors until the first week of October, with many waiting until mid to late October.
Italy has experienced severe droughts over the past few years, with this year being especially bad. Without rain, olive groves have suffered greatly, with desertification becoming a reality on many properties.
Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.
And although olive trees are quite drought-tolerant, they do have limits. When a drought is prolonged like right now, it can greatly impact the overall yield of the fruit.
So what does this mean for harvest? Well, that depends on how clever the producer is. Thankfully, Giuseppe is pretty dang sharp!
We did a lot of work on the properties last winter and this spring in anticipation of a summer with little to no water. But we will find out how well we did once we get the olives through the mill. After all, the most fun part about olive oil is you don’t know how much you’ve made until you’re done!
Tag along with us as we enter the 2022 Harvest on Instagram and TikTok!
Have a question about olive oil or harvest?
A Recipe From Zelli Pasta
You can now find EXAU Olive Oil at Zelli Pasta in Springdale, AR! Last week we did an IG live with them where we discussed the ways in which mom & pop shops specializing in the curation of Italian products are popping up in the south.
Zelli Pasta carries a generous range of super yummy Italian products and ships nationwide. They were also kind enough to share a recipe with our newsletter subscribers! Enjoy : )
Spaghetti with Parsley, Capers, and EXAU Lina
This pasta comes together pretty quickly. The trick is making the paste, but once that’s made it’s business as usual. The banana-like fruitiness and peppery finish of the Lina works wonders with the parsley, caper, and garlic paste. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do!
Make the Paste
Rinse the salt off the capers in a fine mesh colander.
Loosely chop your parsley on a large cutting board.
Smash the garlic clove, and then thinly dice.
Place your garlic and capers on top of the bed of chopped parsley. Begin to chop with vigor. You want to make a paste of parsley, garlic, and capers. You can drag the edge of your knife blade against the caper, garlic, and parsley mixture repeatedly to help smash things together. Then, continue to chop until the mixture comes together as a paste.
Place your paste in a mixing bowl.
De-seed the Fresno pepper, and then dice into small pieces.
Add Fresno pepper to the caper, garlic, and parsley paste.
Pour the EXAU Lina over the paste until the paste is completely covered. Then stir to combine and let sit. This paste can be placed in the fridge for up to 7 days. It’s excellent on top of grilled salmon.
Make the Pasta
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Season the water generously with salt.
Grate 20 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano
Once your water is boiling, add the spaghetti. Boil until al dente or 5-7 minutes depending on the pasta you are using.
Grab a pan, and place on medium heat. Put around 70 grams of the parsley, caper, and garlic paste into the pan.
Spoon around 2-3 tbsp of pasta water into the pan. Then, stir quickly to make a sauce.
Once your spaghetti is al dente, add the spaghetti to the saucepan.
Put the Parmigiano Reggiano on top of the spaghetti and sauce.
“Marry” your pasta and the sauce by giving the sauce pan a couple good tosses. You can also use a spatula and toss the pasta with the sauce in the pan. Whatever works for you, but just do your best to marry the pasta with the sauce. You want pasta coated with the sauce.
Once married, plate your pasta, then drizzle with EXAU Lina on top and enjoy!
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The Olive Oil Club Is Closed
Did you miss out last time the club opened? Don’t worry! You can join the waitlist here : ) The club reopens in December.
Grazie mille,
-Skyler & Giuseppe
P.S. Did you know we are now stocked on the shelves at Crate & Barrel? Yes, like THE CRATE & BARREL. If you see us in person can you please snap a pic and send it to us? You can find us hello@exauoliveoil.com and on Instagram!