Olive Tapenade – A Couple Cooks

This olive tapenade recipe is a straightforward appetizer filled with daring, briny taste! Serve this French unfold with bread or on crostini.

Relating to easy and satisfying appetizers, this one’s on the high of our record. This Olive Tapenade recipe takes simply 5 minutes and explodes with pure Mediterranean taste! This conventional French unfold is made with olives and capers, and the salty, briny taste is otherworldly. Unfold a smear on bread or a crunchy crostini, and the savory pop transports you proper to the South of France. This simple appetizer is ideal for anytime, although we find it irresistible greatest in the summertime for straightforward dinners and picnics.

Elements in olive tapenade

Tapenade is a standard French unfold made with olives, capers and anchovies that originated within the Provence area of Southern France. It’s a preferred French meals eaten on bread or crostini, or as a sandwich unfold, with fish, and different methods. The phrase tapenade comes from the French phrase tapenas, which implies capers. Olive spreads much like tapenade are fashionable in different Mediterranean cuisines as nicely, like Italian and Greek (a Greek variation is known as pasta elias).

Tapenade offers me fond recollections discovering this tasty unfold on a visit to Southern France, and it’s a meals that’s at all times given me carefree, summer time vibes. Listed below are the components in a traditional French tapenade recipe:

• Olives: conventional are French Niçoise olives; they’re exhausting to search out within the US so we like a mixture of Kalamata and ripe black olives
• Capers
• Anchovy paste (non-obligatory)
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Olive oil

Sorts of olives to make use of

Historically a tapenade recipe makes use of French Niçoise olives, however they’re exhausting to search out right here within the US. Kalamata olives are an in depth substitute, however they’ve a stronger taste. So, we like utilizing a combination of olives right here to spherical out the flavour! Right here’s what to search for:

• Use a mixture of pitted ripe black olives and Kalamata olives. These olives have a milder, rounder taste to stability out salty Kalamata olives. Search for the cans which have entire olives.
• You should utilize all Kalamata olives in the event you like, however needless to say it makes a fair saltier, extra one-note unfold. We advocate a combination if in any respect attainable.
• Or, use no matter olives are your favourite! Castelvetrano olives are a favourite inexperienced olive of ours, and it makes a pleasant distinction to the darkish purple Kalamata.

Use anchovy paste for conventional, or omit for vegan

Olive tapenade is historically made with anchovies, so we’ve known as for anchovy paste right here. Nevertheless, you may completely depart it out and it’s simply pretty much as good! Listed below are some notes on working with anchovy paste:

• Anchovies are a standard Mediterranean ingredient that provides daring, savory taste to recipes. For instance, it’s a traditional ingredient in Caesar dressing.
• You’ll find anchovy paste in your native grocery in a tube, then retailer it in your fridge for as much as 18 months.
• Omit anchovy paste for vegan! When you’d like, you may add a bit extra salt to compensate for the saltiness of the anchovies. However relying on the kind of olives you employ, you might not want it.

The right way to serve tapenade

All it’s a must to do to make tapenade? Mix up the components in a meals processor. In simply 5 minutes, you’ve got an excellent unfold that’s fully versatile for appetizers, sandwiches, and extra. (In reality, My greatest pal lately threw a celebration for me with Salmon Caesar Salad and crostini with tapenade and it was perfection!) Listed below are a number of methods to serve olive tapenade:

How do you intend to your use your tapenade? Tell us within the feedback under.

Easier appetizer recipes

Throwing a celebration? Or just desire a tasty appetizer or pre-meal snack? This tapenade recipe is ideal for straightforward summer time entertaining or as fast finger meals. Listed below are a number of extra simple appetizer recipes you’ll love: