Tomato Granita over Green Olive Pate'

One of the appetizers we made on our trip to Spain was this “Tomato and Olive Granita” from the Catacurian cooking school, with a few of my own twists.  This dish is super easy to make and delightfully refreshing, so give it a try,

Ingredients:

5 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded and pureed (or one 28 oz. can of pureed San Marzano tomatoes)
1 cup green Spanish olives (or one jar of green olive pate’)
1 oz. Vodka
fresh thyme sprigs
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
¼ tsp Tabasco pepper sauce (or more to taste)

Directions:

Skin and seed the tomatoes and place them in a food processor (or use the canned San Marzano tomato puree.)  Add one shot of vodka, a few twists of freshly ground black pepper, the Tabasco and process until smooth.  Pour the pureed tomato mixture into a shallow glass dish and place in the freezer for an hour or so until it freezes.  Check it occasionally and scrape with a fork so it had a fluffy crystalline texture and doesn’t freeze solid.

Soak the green olives in cold water for 20 minutes or so, rinsing them and changing the water several times to remove as much brine and salt as possible.  Place the rinsed olives in the food processor and pulse until almost a paste.

In the bottom of a martini glass, spoon about 2 Tbs of the olive paste.  Remove the dish of tomato granita from the freezer and using a fork, scratch the top to fluff it,  Spoon about 3 Tbs of the tomato granita on top of the olive pate in the martini glasses.  Gently tap the bottom of the glasses on a dish towel to compact the ingredients slightly.  Sprinkle a few granules of gray sea salt on top of the tomato granita, then pour about 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil on top around the edge of the glass.  Garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme and serve immediately.