Need I say more???

Jason Gibb and Cathy Rogers set up Nudo in 2005 after buying and restoring an abandoned 21 acre olive grove in Italy's Le Marche. Their love of the Italian countryside inspired their now famous Adopt an olive tree programme which allows people all over the world to adopt an Italian olive tree and receive its oil. The programme involves a collaboration between a group of small scale, artisanal olive producers in Le Marche and Abruzzo.

Each olive farmer keeps responsibility for the care of their grove, and all the olive oil goes into the Nudo adoption programme. In giving financial security to the olive farmers, the programme makes viable the traditional farming methods which, quite simply, produce the world’s best olive oil. A love of simple natural food is the starting point for all Nudo products. They are all made from 100% natural, high quality, locally sourced ingredients. Why use artificial preservatives when olive oil is one of the best preservatives there is - and the most delicious?

Some other nuggets of the Nudo philosophy:
*We ship by sea and land rather than air wherever possible.

*For every adoption, we donate money to the 'Tree for all' tree-planting campaign.
*We package our oil in tins to keep our oil fresher and because tin is better for the environment than glass.
*We endorse and encourage any and all hugging of olive trees.

Some random things we like beginning with A:
*Artichokes - especially in Jason's artichoke lasagna.
*Acrobats (and any other people who can jump onto someone else's shoulders).
*The Alice in Wonderland i-pad app (you can juggle pills!).
*Asparagus foraged from the fields. You might only get 5 stalks but they'll be the best you've ever tasted. I just love their sight and seriously, it made my mouth water just looking at it!

Is this not the most beautiful packaging for olive oil ever?!?

Nudo is an olive grove. And part of it can be yours!

Adopt one of its trees for a year and you'll receive all the produce from your tree. Imagine dunking your bread in your own oil from your own tree thousands of miles away on a hillside in Italy.

It's delicious, it's good for the world and you get to show off to your friends.
Hang the consequences. Adopt an olive tree.

OMG!!! How cool is this!

Each of their olive trees is marked with a dot in the maps below. If you want us to choose a tree, click here to adopt. Or have a look at the different groves and select one yourself: Aleandri, Ardelio, Dell'Orso, Fiorano, Fonte Carella, Il Professore, Il Taccolito, La Morla, Lina and Rosalio.

I think I'm sold! Can you imagine getting your very own olive oil from your very own tree that is somewhere like Fonte Carella? Once you've chosen and adopted a tree, the first thing you'll receive is an adoption certificate, to make you official, and your tree information booklet. Then over the course of the year you'll receive two more packages, one in the spring and one in the autumn, containing all the produce from your tree.

We say your tree but we actually collect your tree’s harvest with about 50 of its neighbours – to give us enough olives to press in one go. Think of it as being about the society rather than the individual.

For just £65/$105 (+ shipping) you’ll receive 3 packages over the year: 1. Spring package (all the extra virgin olive oil from your tree) 2. Autumn package (three flavoured extra virgin olive oils) 3. Personalised adoption certificate and booklet about your tree
Now search the grove and adopt a tree.

I mean, come on!!!! Check out the site!!!

http://www.nudo-italia.com/

If you do want to do this as a gift for yourself or for someone you know PLEASE let me know. It will be a surprise, I promise!

Ok, sorry to go on but this blew my mind when I was reading it! I do have a lovely dish that I made with my amazing olive oil! I got the recipe from this site.

Peppers & Tomatoes Stuffed with Couscous…and a Drizzle of Lemon Olive Oil.

Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
½ yellow onion, minced
1/3 cup golden and red raisins
2 small carrots, diced
1 cup whole wheat couscous (quick-cooking variety)
1 cup water
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large green peppers
1 large, round yellow or red tomato
6 fresh basil leaves
6 fresh mint leaves

Directions
Preheat the oven at 350°
In a sauté pan over medium heat, warm the butter. Add the carrots and onions and sauté in the butter until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the raisins and sauté until plump, then add the couscous and water, salt and pepper. Cook for the amount of time according to the couscous package instructions. When it is done, remove from heat and allow to cool.
Wash and dry the peppers and tomato. Cut each in half, removing all seeds. Pat the insides completely dry.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place peppers and tomatoes face up on the baking sheet, a couple of inches apart.
Fill each half of the peppers and tomatoes with couscous mixture. Place one basil and one mint leaf on top of each pepper or tomato.
Drizzle each pepper and tomato with a bit of lemon-flavored olive oil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the couscous has begun to brown somewhat, but not dry out. Allow to rest a few minutes, uncovered, before serving.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know!

-Heather