Olive and Garlic Tapenade

[Gaelen]

I didn't invent this recipe...a friend brought it to 'Happy Hour by the water' last week, where after the show we all hang out in camp chairs and watch the sunset (we get a waterfront site every year). She brought Fritos to scoop it up with, but I used slices of hard salami to scoop and some people scooped it up with fresh veggies. It was good on all three choices.

MIXED OLIVE and GARLIC TAPENADE
1 jar (about a cup) of pitted black olives
1 jar (about a cup) of pimento-filled green olives
3-5 cloves garlic (about 3 tablespoons, minced)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Drain and finely chop the olives.
Mince up the garlic cloves.
Stir together. Serve at room temperature.

I like to get my olives from the supermarket olive bar--when I made this at home, I used 2 cups of mixed olives, pitted, that had been marinated in extra virgin olive oil and vinegar so I didn't add any more vinegar. I used 5 cloves of garlic because I love garlic...and I 'chopped' them by giving them a quick whir in the food processor. Easy, quick...and after it made its first appearance at Happy Hour, we actually drove into town to get more olives to make more every day.

Enjoy!

[AmyH]

Yum!! I love tapenade! I'll probably use the olives from the olive bar as well. I'm thinking kalamata olives, in place of the black olives, for this recipe. Thanks for sharing Gaelen!

[Laredo]

Ooooh, yummy.

You might like this, too:

New Orleans Sandwich Spread

6 oz jar pimiento-stuffed small Spanish olives, drained
6 oz jar onion-stuffed small Spanish olives, drained
1 Tbsp capers, drained
4 oz can sliced ripe olives, drained
1 Tbsp roasted minced garlic
4 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, UNDRAINED
2 boxes frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed completely dry
3 or 4 (depending on desired heat) pepperoncini peppers
1 ounce each, grated:
Romano cheese
Parmesan cheese
Asiago cheese
WHITE extra-sharp cheddar cheese

In blender/processor bowl, combine all olives, peppers, capers, garlic, and spinach. Blend and chop together. Add cheeses and mix lightly; add artichoke hearts and blend to a rough puree.

Spread on toast. (On toasted sourdough bread, this stuff is really good.)

Whoops, nearly forgot -- you can add crushed red pepper (paprika, cayenne, red chile powder) to your heart's content, but don't add salt -- the marinade the artichokes come in and the capers plus the olives are very salty already.

[Ira]

Ooooh, yummy.

Don't use the word "yummy" again or you'll have to turn in your membership card to the male gender.

YUMMY!?

[Gaelen]

Ira, it is what it is. Now, if he'd said 'yum-O' ala Rachel Ray, that would be a noteable issue, the kind of thing that should go in your permanent record.

But seriously, tapenade (and Laredo's spread) both sound yummy to me right now. Ditto the muffalleta posted elsewhere. I just love olives.

I sometimes make tapenade, with pine nuts and grated parmigianna reggiano, as a simple sauce on pasta or spaghetti squash. This tapenade and Laredo's spread both sound like pasta or pizza topping candidates.

Maybe I shouldn't have skipped dinner.