Pompeian Olive Oil – Review and Recipe
In order for an oil to qualify as “extra virgin” the oil must also pass both an official chemical test in a laboratory and a sensory evaluation by a trained tasting panel recognized by the International Olive Council. The olive oil must be found to be free from defects while exhibiting some fruitiness.
Olive oil tasters describe the positive attributes are described in the following terms:
- Fruity: Having pleasant spicy fruit flavors characteristic of fresh ripe or green olives. Ripe fruit yields oils that are milder, aromatic, buttery, and floral. Green fruit yields oils that are grassy, herbaceous, bitter, and pungent. Fruitiness also varies by the variety of olive.
- Bitter: Creating a mostly pleasant acrid flavor sensation on the tongue.
- Pungent: Creating a peppery sensation in the mouth and throat
You can learn more extremely interesting facts about olive oils (and the history or olives and olive oils) and the processes involved in their production, by visiting the Pompeian Company website as well as the Olive Oil Times, where I found the information listed above.
About Mediterranean Diets
Olive oil has been a part of the original diets of the people living in the Mediterranean basin. This type of eating plan is recognized as one of the healthiest diets (and lifestyles) in the entire world. The Mediterranean Diet, is comprised of eating lots of fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and olive oil as their main fat source. This eating plan does include occasional consumption of red meat, but the most common source of protein comes from beans and fatty fish from the region, like sardines and anchovies. Pompeian olive oil is the first to be labeled under the USDA seal. I received bottle of Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil and measuring spoon, just for my oil, via Smiley 360, to use in trying out some recipes listed on the Pompeian website. Baby Girl and I intensely scoured the Pompeian website in search of recipes, until we agreed upon a choice. So, being the ding-dongs that we are, we went with good ole “spaghetti sauce”. Oh yes, we are an adventurous bunch’-) Okie dokie – down to the nitty gritty! We altered the recipe a little, taking into consideration, The Man’s taste buds. You can find the original recipe HERE. We added “bottled” spaghetti sauce to our list of ingredients, because said man doesn’t like chunks in his sauce. So, we gave him some of the bottled sauce and meatballs, while BG and LL used the ingredients in the recipe and added chopped carrots to the mix, along with the rest of the bottle sauce, that was left over from the man’s dinner.
After simmering for a couple of hours, voila’.
.
YUMMY – Spaghetti with meatballs, salad, bread sticks and sparkling lemonade.
We love Pompeian oil! It makes everything taste more robust.
Looks yummy! My husband loves cooking Italian food so we use olive oil frequently.
Kas
It looks like a great meal. I love meatballs.
Mmm dinner looks great! I will have to try this, we love Italian night so we would love to try this oil.
Oh that dish looks amazing! We absolutely adore Pompeian olive oil! I cook with it all the time!!
This is some of the best olive oil I have used. I use it in my daily cooking. Would love to see more recipes!
I love cooking with Pompeian Olive Oil. I use it for many, many recipes. The spaghetti looks so delicious.
I’ve never tried this brand of oil before!
Olive oil is our cooking oil of choice.
I love this olive oil brand too! 🙂
Learned so much about olive oil. Didn’t know differences of virgin and extra virgin olive oil.
We have a couple of different olive oils to suit our taste!
This Is My Favorite Brand Of OLive oil, I make this wonderful egg/cheese crusted chicken with olive oil. So yummy
Wow, I’ve been wanting to make pasta and meatballs for a couple of days now. This cinched it. 🙂 I’ve grown up with olive oil my whole life. I just haven’t tried the Pompeian brand. I’m definitely going to pick up a bottle and make my Pasta and meatballs. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Carol L
I haven’t tried Pompeian olive oil, but definitely want to give it a try! Thanks for the review.
Recipe looks awesome! And thank you for the review! I’ve been trying to determine a better olive oil than the one I’ve been using and this helped out a lot!
This is a great brand of oil. Thanks for the great recipe as well.
I love olive oil. It’s pretty much the only oil I use, even as a non-stick spray. I haven’t really branched out to try different kinds for their varied flavors, but I hope to one day! I also look forward to incorporating it more into baked goods and such.
Will have to make this recipe. Like cooking with olive oil since it takes a higher temperature without burning. Thanks for sharing.