Agatha Relota Luczo is the purveyor of all things extra virgin olive oil. The model-cum-founder and chief executive officer of the Furtuna Skin beauty brand, olive oil sommelier and children’s book author shares her Wildly Potent Kitchen recipes using the oil sourced from her family estate in Sicily.
“I love cooking, and especially with extra virgin olive oil,” says Relota Luczo, who is also, with her husband Steve Luczo, a cofounder of Bona Furtuna, Furtuna Skin’s sister company. The Sicilian food line offers artisanal pantry staples, including a range of extra virgin olive oils and is carried by specialty grocers such as Erewhon and The Fresh Market.
Extra virgin olive oil is the only type of oil anyone should cook with, Relota Luczo believes. “It’s an ingredient that carries nutrients into your food and pulls nutrients out of vegetables in a form your body can actually absorb,” she says.
Her mother just used extra virgin olive oil when Relota Luczo was growing up, and now she herself bakes, roasts and cooks with it. Her recipes include blueberry muffins and cottage cheese pancakes.
“I’ve altered the cottage cheese pancake recipe a little bit, because I added a shot of extra virgin olive oil into the batter just to make it a little bit more silky and smooth,” Relota Luczo says. “I also have an olive oil cake recipe that I love making.”
She shares her recipes using the oils online through Instagram @agatharelotaluczo, more recently via her Substack Per Furtuna feed.
The clean recipes based on the Mediterranean diet are “high in protein and so good for you,” Relota Luczo says. “People love when I share recipes and ideas about cooking.”
She is a strong proponent of educating others about extra virgin olive oil’s benefits. Beyond cooking, Relota Luczo takes a shot of Furtuna Skin’s LXR06 Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil on an empty stomach each morning to maintain her beautiful skin. It’s created from a single original blend of six olive varieties that are hand-harvested from ancient trees on the 800-acre organic farm, and skin care-optimized — packed with natural squalene, vitamins E and K, plus polyphenols among other beneficial ingredients helping to neutralize daily oxidative stress that leads to dullness, fine lines and sagging. It was created to protect skin from the inside out.
“There’s so much love and attention that goes into that olive oil,” Relota Luczo says. “We don’t start bottling it until 45 minutes after it starts pressing. Not one bruised olive goes into this. It is purely the liquid gold of extra virgin olive oil in this elixir.”
For her, the meticulous care behind every bottle of extra virgin olive oil ultimately connects back to a larger philosophy about beauty and health. “It’s like skin care you can eat — beauty from within,” Relota Luczo says. “I’m a big believer that what you eat and what you put on your skin are equally important and work hand in hand.”
Here, two of her favorite recipes using extra virgin olive oil:
EVOO Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins, 400°F, 18-20 minutes
Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
About 1/3 cup milk, or enough to bring the wet mixture to 1 cup
1 cup fresh blueberries
Brown sugar, for sprinkling
How to
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Line or lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a 1-cup liquid measure, add the EVOO and egg, then add milk until the mixture reaches the 1-cup line. Whisk together.
4. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries; do not overmix.
5. Fill the muffin cups about three-quarters full and sprinkle lightly with brown sugar.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool briefly before serving.
EVOO Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Makes about 18-24 small pancakes
Ingredients
6 eggs
1½ cups whole milk cottage cheese
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
A splash of water, to thin the batter
A touch of EVOO for the batter
Bona Furtuna EVOO, for the pan and for drizzling
How to
1. Whisk the eggs until light and airy.
2. Blend the cottage cheese until smooth, then stir it into the eggs with the flour, baking powder, salt and a touch of Bona Furtuna Forte Blend EVOO.
3. Add a splash of water to thin the batter — you want it pourable but not runny.
4. Warm a little EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter by spoonfuls and cook until golden on both sides, a few minutes per side.
5. Serve warm with a drizzle of EVOO and honey, or fresh berries.
(Note: For blueberry pancakes, fold a handful of fresh blueberries in.)