Portuguese Green Olive Dip

When I visited A Bolota, a lovely restaurant perched on the sweeping plains of the eastern Alentejo, this dip, called patê de azeitonas verdes, was brought to our table. As I nattered away with friends, I dipped, spread, and nibbled, until I realized I alone had eaten all of it. Later, when I became friendly with the cook, Ilda Vinagre, I watched her make it and was flummoxed when she whipped up its silky base: milk “mayonnaise”—whole milk whirred into a smooth consistency with the addition of vegetable oil. I serve this as a dip with a platter of crudités, alongside crackers or bread, or, sometimes, as a topping for grilled fish.–David Leite

Atenção [Editor’s Note: That means “attention”)

Don’t make this in a food processor. The bowls of most processors are too large to allow the scant amount of ingredients to whip up to the right consistency. A small narrow blender or a mini chop or handheld blender works best.

Portuguese Green Olive Dip

5 / 8 votes

For this Portuguese green olive dip, olives are stirred into a whipped eggless ‘mayonnaise’ made with milk, oil, anchovies, garlic, and white pepper.

David Leite

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CourseAppetizers

CuisinePortuguese

Servings12 servings | 1 1/2 cups

Calories140 kcal

Prep Time5 minutes minutes

Total Time5 minutes minutes

Equipment

• A small mini chop or hand blender

Ingredients 

USMetric

• ▢ 1/3 cup whole milk, plus more if needed
• ▢ 6 oil-packed anchovy filets
• ▢ 1 small garlic clove
• ▢ Leaves and tender stems of 6 cilantro sprigs
• ▢ Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
• ▢ 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• ▢ 2/3 cup pitted green olives such as Manzanilla, rinsed quickly if particularly salty, roughly chopped

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Instructions 

• In a blender, pulse to combine the 1/3 cup milk, anchovies, garlic, 2/3 of the cilantro, and the pepper.
• With the motor running, pour the oil in what the Portuguese call a fio, or fine thread. Keep whirring until the oil is incorporated and the mixture thickens, 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes, depending on your equipment.
• Scrape the dip into a bowl and stir in the olives. Mince the remaining cilantro, sprinkle on top, and serve. If the dip thickens, you can always simply stir in a tablespoon or two of milk.

Adapted From

The New Portuguese Table

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Nutrition

Serving: 2 tablespoonsCalories: 140 kcalCarbohydrates: 1 gProtein: 1 gFat: 15 gSaturated Fat: 2 gMonounsaturated Fat: 4 gTrans Fat: 0.1 gCholesterol: 3 mgSodium: 193 mgFiber: 0.3 gSugar: 0.4 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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