I happened across the most gorgeous leafy celery at the farmers’ market a few weeks ago and decided it was time to share this recipe with you. I’ve made this appetizer several times since I found it in Deb’s new cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Everyday.
The recipe caught my eye last winter because I love raw celery in salads. Vegetable platters have just about ruined celery for Americans, but it’s a different story in salads and the like. Celery is crisp, refreshing, affordable (buy organic, and it’s still affordable!), and keeps well.
Deb continued to reel me in with the mention of “Parmesan rubble.” You just take a fork to some Parmesan and break it into little pieces. Why didn’t I think of that? I had to try it, I love it, and it sounds like something cute from the Flintstone’s.
I’m ignoring the elephant in this recipe, which is the olives. You’ll definitely need to enjoy or at least tolerate olives to get behind this recipe. No getting around that.
However, when you add Parm rubble, celery, chopped toasted almonds, fresh garlic, vinegar and olive oil, the recipe becomes a lot more than a bowl of olives. It’s irresistibly briny, crisp, crunchy and fresh. Your friends are going to ask for the recipe.
My notes
- To make this recipe in a hurry, buy pre-pitted olives and tear them by hand into a few pieces. You can use jarred or canned green olives, or pick out your favorites at the olive bar at your grocery store. I’ve recently fallen in love with Castelvetrano olives, which are buttery, crisp and less salty than most.
- I almost always recommend buying raw nuts and roasting them yourself for the best flavor, but if you have a trustworthy source of tasty (unsalted!) roasted almonds, that would save you some trouble, too.
- Buy the freshest organic celery available, but don’t stress if it doesn’t have pretty leaves to add to the mix.
- This recipe has a mix of Mediterranean flavors and goes great with creamy hummus and crackers or toasted pita bread.
- Deb suggests that if you’re serving this at a party, prepare the olives/Parm/celery in larger pieces that guests can spear with toothpicks—I like that idea!
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you, and check out Deb’s book. For a similar but lighter celery option, don’t miss this celery salad with dates, almonds and Parmesan.
Torn Olives with Almonds, Celery & Parmesan
- Author:
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
This fun Mediterranean appetizer features briny green olives, crumbled Parmesan, crisp celery, and toasted almonds. Recipe yields about 2 cups, enough to serve 4 to 6.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (270 grams) large pitted green olives, drained and torn into bite-sized pieces*
- 1 cup diced celery (from 2 to 3 medium ribs)
- ½ cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped**
- 2 ounces Parmesan, crumbled with a fork or knife point into ½ cup rubble
- 1 large garlic clove, very thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, more to taste
- Kosher salt and red pepper flakes, to taste
- Leaves from celery ribs, roughly chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, toss all of the ingredients except the celery leaves together. Taste, and adjust the seasonings to your preference (I usually add a little more olive oil and vinegar, and about ¼ teaspoon kosher salt).
- Garnish with the chopped celery leaves. Refrigerate until needed, for up to 5 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted just the tiniest bit from Smitten Kitchen Everyday by Deb Perelman.
*Deb’s notes: If you’re serving this as part of a cheese spread, keep the pieces chunky and offer toothpicks for serving. If it’s a first course, you can chop everything smaller and offer forks. (I like to chop it pretty small and serve it with hummus so people can pile it onto the hummus.)
**How to toast your almonds: I roasted whole almonds on a rimmed baking sheet for 12 to 14 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then chopped them.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Libby Slappey
Kate, the Torn Olive recipe sounds fabulous! Just as a reminder, the word Flintstones is just an ordinary plural word. No need for the apostrophe. :-)
Kate
Thanks for sharing!
Miracle
Amazing recipe
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you!
Tori Cooper
This is such a creative idea. I love this combo!
Kate
Thanks, Tori!
Diane
All of your recipes are wonderful and this sounds unique and delicious. I can’t wait to try it!
Kate
Thank you, Diane!
Jerilyn
This looks delicious. Where do you find VEGETARIAN chunks of Parmesan? I can only find grated or shredded in tubs at Whole Foods, thanks.
Kate
You can get a block and then crumble it. A fork works nicely!
Jonna
I made this for last night moon eclipse party and yes, it is great! It is so creative and unusual mix of ingredients! But it is amazing how well different tastes and textures make a perfect combo ! And you were right, my guests wanted the recipe (and you got new followers as well :) ). Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful, Jonna! Thanks for the review.
Gaby Dalkin
This sounds like an all-star appetizer!!
Kate
It’s so good, Gaby!
Sam
Made a big batch of this to eat for lunch this week. I added a little red onion to the mix and put it on top of lettuce. Delicious! Love the salty/briny flavor. It’s a great recipe to switch up my usual lunch salads.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Sam! I appreciate it.
LISA W LARCENAIRE
so easy and yummy! I had only rice vinegar in the house and it worked fine – wonder how fresh lemon juice would have been. Thanks so much! so unique and yummy!
Lisa
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Lisa!
Mary Nell Raphael
I made this for the first time, and yes, my guests did ask for the recipe and they loved it. So I sent them to your website.
It was really delicious! I wanted to make this as quickly as possible, so I used a bottle of already cut and marinated green olives with it’s own marinate as well as some sliced black olives. I can see where adding some hummus as a first layer would be delicious as well.
Thanks for sharing this unique recipe.
Mary Nell
★★★★★
Kate
Lovely! I’m happy to hear that, Mary. Thanks so much for your review.
Samia
Made this and it was a hit! The flavors and textures together are so good. I substituted Apple Cider Vinegar because it’s what I had on hand and it turned out great! Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great! Thank you, Samia.
Rachel
I made this as a quick dinner for myself when I thought of this recipe at the grocery store to pick up some olives. I don’t like green olives but I love kalamata, so that’s what I used and it turned out really nicely. Of course those are really salty so I didn’t have to add any extra salt. Instead I added some red pepper flakes for heat (I like spicy food). I served it over some toasted Italian bread and arugula. It was a lovely light, quick weeknight dinner but didn’t feel sorry in the least. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Rachel!
Mandy
I made this for a “snacky” dinner (meaning we basically have large portions of snacks as dinner) along with fresh hummus, warm naan, pita chips, and egg salad (out of place here, but it needed to be eaten!) and it was AMAZING. I didn’t have almonds, so I used toasted pecans (my granny picked and shelled them) instead. They lent a nice sweetness, but I think almonds would definitely be the way to go and provide a better crunch. Will absolutely make again!
★★★★★
Kate
I love “snacky” dinners! Thank you, Mandy for sharing and for your review.
Sara
I also used pecans, because they were sitting there in the cupboard, but agree that almonds would be better. And I replaced the parmesan with a vegan (aged and cultured) cashew cheese (from treeline), which was an amazing fit, just saying ;)
Sara
And, yes, it’s an amazing recipe, thanks!
Deanna
This looks amazing!!! I could eat this whole bowl!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you!!
David
Torn olive was killer! I didnt have white wine vinegar, used tarragon. Didnt have almonds, used pecans, (unroasted). I served it with grilled burgers and grilled buns. Fabulous.
Thanks
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, David!
Rebecca
I LOVED this salad – salty, crunchy, cheesy goodness. It was perfection!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful, Rebecca!
Dana
This is a great recipe, so full of flavor! We only did a cup of olives and put it over chickpea pasta for a delicious dinner!
★★★★★
Kate
That sounds delicious! Thank you, Dana for sharing. I appreciate your review.