Olive Tapenade

Very near my house is a great little bistro with a fantastic eggplant burger and a rockin' wine list.  Before the meal, the guests are served both an herbed olive oil dipper and an olive tapenade along with various kinds of breads to enjoy while they sip their wine and wait for their meal to be prepared and served.  While the upper Midwest is hardly known for its olive production, we do have some magnificent little restaurants and a fair few small businesses who specialize in supplying our population with amazing olives from throughout the world.

Up until a few years ago, I hated olives.  The only ones I had ever eaten were used as an accent to dips or drinks and they had all come from a can on the grocery store shelves. Blech!  Not too long ago, a small fromagerie opened near our house (not too far from the bistro I mentioned earlier) and in addition to their artisan cheeses, they also sell olives.  I was able to taste many different olives from all over the world and fell madly in love with a few varieties (which taste nothing at all like their canned counterparts).

Back at the bistro;  a lot of restaurants offer tapenade (olives, garlic, herbs, etc) or olivada (usually just olives, olive oil, and black pepper), and most of them are just tasty enough to eat them while we wait for the main course, only to forget them after our main course arrives.  But the bistro down the road serves a tapenade that temps even non-olive lovers (like my husband) to take a taste and then go for a second.  The chef at the bistro won't tell me the actual recipe, but I've eaten enough of it to determine that there are both green and black olives, garlic, roasted red peppers, and some basil in there.  Below is the recipe for what I think comes the closest to a home recreation of that whole bunch of lovely.

I'm no pro on olive selection beyond the advice to never, ever buy the ones in the can.  I can tell you, however, that buying the ones with the pit and then pitting them yourself makes the olive less briny.  Rinsing the brine is also a good idea (so you can actually taste the olive as opposed to the salt and brine).  Please do both with a spread that features olives.  To pit the olive, you could buy a pitter (similar to one you would use for cherries), or you could be super simple and cool and achieve the same results with a good whack of the back of a knife and a simple squeeze to pop out the pit.  I somehow ended up with a cherry pitter and, while I've used it, I really rather favor a good whack with my knife; it's somehow more rewarding.

I took the feature picture this morning.  I ate nearly half of that bowl for breakfast.  I'm not suggesting that might be a reasonable serving amount, but I wanted to you to know this so if you you are making this for guests, you can plan accordingly.  Especially if I show up.

Olive Tapenade
makes about 1 cup

• 1/2 c pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 c pitted green olives (choose a variety you like)
• 2" wide strip of roasted red bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped basil
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped parsley
• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, or pile everything onto a large cutting board.

If using a food processor, pulse several times until desired consistency is reached. If using a knife and cutting board, chop until desired consistency.

Store in refrigerator.

Serve on baguette slices, toasted or not, or crackers.