Tapenade

Tapenade is a fancy name for what is essentially olive puree, used as a dip. But you can be really creative with these and not limit yourselves to just olives. Below are my two favorites.

Olive tapenade

1 10 ounce jar of Manzanilla olives, with pimento centers, with liquid drained off *
2 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of fresh basil or flat leaf parsley leaves (or a combo of both)
olive oil

Put everything into a food processor with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and turn it on. As the mixture purees, add enough extra olive oil so that the mixture comes together in a smooth paste. You won't need a lot as there is already a lot of oil and moisture in the olives.

Serve with bruschetta, crackers, pita, or crudite and enjoy!

* In my humble opinion, tapenade is one of the few places where more expensive, exotic, or flavorful olives is NOT preferable. I think the flavor then gets too overwhelming, and judging from the raves I get about this tapenade whenever I serve it, there's no need to spend the extra money on fancier olives.

Artichoke Heart Tapenade

1 14 ounce can of artichoke hearts, liquid drained off
2 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of fresh basil or flat leaf parsley leaves (or a combo of both)
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
olive oil

Put everything into a food processor with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and turn it on. As the mixture purees, add enough extra olive oil so that the mixture comes together in a smooth paste. You won't need a lot as there is already a lot of moisture in the artichoke hearts.

Serve with bruschetta, crackers, pita, or crudite and enjoy!