I love making a quick appetizer to munch on while prepping the main course. What the heck is tapenade? That was my question the first time I had it as well. Wikipedia defines tapenade as a Provencal dish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil. (Don’t be afraid of the anchovies! They contribute an amazing saltiness this dish needs.) It is a popular food int he south of France where it is generally eaten as an hors d’oevre, spread on bread. We have used it inside a puff pastry as well. Olive tapenade is super fast, super easy and super flavorful! Trust me when I say a little goes a long way. This is the second time I’ve tried this recipe from Alton Brown – a genius in the culinary field. Each time, I’ve tweaked it a tiny bit so this version is my own with his inspiration.
Look at all those delicious ingredients – so easy to prepare and mouthwatering already.
This is going to be so easy! Just throw all the ingredients into a bowl or any mixing vessel and blast away with the immersion blender. You can use your food processor too if you want but you’ll find yourself constantly stopping to scrape the bowl and push everything back to the blades.
I chose this recipe to use as my first appetizer because we had all these beautiful olives and even though this is a French influenced dish, it went perfectly well with my Italian themed homemade spaghetti sauce and my first ever Tirimasu. France and Italy are pretty close, right?
Toast the bread. You know how to do that…
Serve the tapenade spread on toast, topped with mozzarella (those are NOT mini-marshmallows) and drizzled with Balsamic. Fantastic
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
cup
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- 1/2 pound pitted mixed olives get from olive bar at grocery store or buy pre-pakaged
- 2 anchovy filets, rinsed
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil or 2-3 fresh leaves
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice I actually used the bottled kind
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- sliced French bread to serve toasted or not - your choice
- Mozzarella pearls optional
- balsamic vinegar optional
Ingredients
|
|
- Drain the olives. You can rinse them if you prefer a bit less saltiness as these ingredients are all very high in salt. But I really like the strong flavors so I just drain the olives.
- In a deep dish or even a large cup, combine all ingredients. I used the cup that came with my immersion blender- the depth is necessary to avoid splattering Tapenade everywhere.
- Blend until all large chunks are gone. You will likely need to stop and scrape the sides of the cup or bowl. You want the consistency to be slightly chunky but easily spreadable.
- Transfer to a small serving bowl and you're done. This can be served with toasted or untoasted bread. I like the crunch of a toasted baguette.
- I also like to add chunks of fresh mozzarella and a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar- partly for presentation purposes but also for flavor.
This makes a full cup of tapenade and it packs quite a punch so it can be used fairly sparingly.
To store the leftovers, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 7 days. It will not freeze well at all.