Tapenade Recipe

Use it as a superb sandwich spread, or pile the tapenade into a bowl and serve as a FABULOUSLY FLAVORSOME appetizer with small chunks of fresh seasonal vegetables, and a loaf of crusty bread such as Italian ciabatta, or toasted foccacia.

Tapenade is quite often referred to as black olive paste, but the word tapenade comes from the Provencal word tapeno, which actually means capers!

You can serve this very versatile paste with vegetables, fish, or meat, toss it through hot cooked pasta AND it also makes a DELICIOUS stuffing for chicken breasts.

Tapenade Recipe
2 cups of pitted kalamata olives
2 anchovies
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of capers
5 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of half a lemon

1. Place all the ingredients into your food processor and blend until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Ideally it should be mixed well but, served quite chunky.

2. Remove the mixture from the food processor and season with a little pepper and salt.

If you find the traditional recipe a little too salty for your liking, try this version instead, with no anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes.

Sun Dried Tomato Tapenade
1/4 ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained (reserve the oil)
1 cup fresh kalamata olives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup capers
1 1/2 teaspoons of parmesan cheese(optional)

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor. Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and process until the mixture becomes the desired consistency.

2. Remove the tapenade from the food processor and season with a little pepper.

Add a couple of teaspoons of oil to the surface of the paste and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. The addition of the oil will help to prevent the tapenade from drying out.

This recipe makes a tasty STANDALONE food gift or try adding a jar or two to a homemade Christmas basket, an Italian basket or a barbecue gift basket.

SUPERB!

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Homemade Food Gifts

Italian Bread Recipes

Organic Food Gift Baskets

Tapenade Recipe to Christmas Food Gifts
Home Page of Gift Basket Ideas