The Olive Harvest Experience: picking our own olives

It all started one cool and sunny November day. Our small team of olive pickers joined us early in the morning, to help us harvest this year's olives. With nets, crates, and olive picking equipment ready, the work began.

Traditionally there would be 4 olive pickers working one tree at a time. Large nets would be arranged around the base of the olive tree, with two of the workers on wooden ladders working from the top of the tree down, gently 'raking' each olive branch to drop the olives onto the nets below. Those working on the ground would gather the olives in the net and place them into the crates. As each tree was completed and each crate filled with olives, they would move the nets to the next tree.
The olive picking process is much the same today, however to make the process more efficient, air compressed silicon hands , called 'la manina'  or 'the little hand'  are used to gently shake the olives off the tree onto the nets below.

We have a 'family sized' olive grove of 52 olive trees, with mainly 'carboncella' and 'leccino' olives (two of the main varieties of olives grown in the Sabine Hills).  Not all of our olive trees produced olives this year, but those that have, have produced in abundance. With a lot of help, we were able to harvest all our olives in just one day.

As the sun set, we took our crates of olives straight to a nearby 'frantoio', olive mill, to have our olives pressed immediately. To get the highest quality extra virgin olive oil, the olives need to be pressed with 24 hours of picking.

This year we harvested 200 kgs of olives which, once pressed, produced 46 litres of some of the best Sabina extra virgin olive oil I have ever tasted!

When you next come to visit us, you too, will be able to taste some of the wonderful Sabina extra virgin olive oil.
Learn more about our Half Day Rome Olive Tour at Convivio Rome.

We operation Rome Olive tours all year round, to discover more:
http://www.conviviorome.com/olive-tour.html
 email us on  info@conviviorome.com

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The magic of the Sabine Hills, captured: Farfa e Fara Sabina

Sabina is a small agricultural region just 40 kms north of Rome, surrounded by olive groves, medieval hilltop villages and ancient Monasteries. It is spectacular here. Sabina, is known as 'The Sabine Hills' (to English speakers) and in my opinion, far more beautiful, unspoilt, and far less touristy than Tuscany and Umbria.....and yet no one has ever heard of this area.

Convivio Rome runs 3 and 5 night Italian cooking Holidays. Half Day and One Day Italian Cooking Classes, Olive Tours and Wine Tours within this region.

This wonderful 2 minute video, taken by 'visitlazio.com' is breathtaking.

We hope you will be inspired to come and visit us and Convivio Rome

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Torta di Ricotta alla Romana - Roman Style Ricotta cheese cake

Photo taken by Todd Gallop

This is the most traditional dessert of Rome and we often prepare it during our cooking classes. Ricotta is mostly whey, which separates from milk during the cheese making process. Being neutral and creamy, it's suitable for both sweet or savoury dishes. In Rome, as we discuss during our cooking classes, ricotta mainly comes from sheep's milk. For this recipe I prefer cow's milk ricotta as it's sweeter. This cake is eaten hot out of the oven, during our Rome cooking classes, however I would try it cold as well. It keeps in the refrigerator for a few days.

Torta di Ricotta alla Romana (serves 6 )
For the pastry: 150g of butter, 300g of flour, 150g of sugar, 3 egg yolks, vanilla flavour, 8g of baking powder, salt. For the filling: 400g of ricotta, 2 egg yolks, 100 g of sugar, lemon or orange zest, a drop of single cream or milk, dark chocolate (to your taste).

For the short pastry, mix flour with softened butter, add sugar, citrus zest, 3 egg yolks, vanilla flavour, 8g of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Make the dough in to a ball, wrap it in film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Mix ricotta until smooth, add sugar, flour, two egg yolks, cream and fold in the whipped egg whites. Then add chocolate chips. Roll the pastry and line a cake tin with it. Pour in the ricotta mix and bake at 150C° for 30 minutes, until golden. Sprinkle some icing sugar.

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