Pitting Olives

You can use an olive/cherry pitter to pit olives, but I find that an easier, quicker method, especially for types such as picholines that cling tightly to the pit, is to put them on a cutting board, lay the flat side of a large kitchen knife on them and lean on the knife. The olives will split as you crush them, and the pits will be easy to remove.

Make sure, when you’re pitting the olives, not to get the pits mixed in with the pitted olives. It’ll make a horrible racket in your food processor if you do (which will tell you there’s a pit in there), and the only way to fish it out at that point is to dig around in the mush.