Olive Tapenade made with a variety of olives like Kalamata, Pimento, Garlic and Sicilian on toasted bread rounds make a tasty, last minute appetizer.
This recipe for Olive Tapenade was never shared on the blog; however, it is in my cookbook. It's an appetizer that we all love; yet I haven't made it in quite some time.
As I was flipping through the book to make an "oldie, but goodie" recipe, I knew this appetizer needed to be resurrected (and rephotographed!).
This Christmas was pretty quiet compared to years past. As I'm sure it was for a lot of you. Usually, we host Christmas Eve with my side of the family; which is usually over 20 people.
Then we would also host Christmas day with my husbands side of the family; which was usually around 10 people. However, since my father in laws passing; that has even dwindled down to just five of us.
Thanks to "Rona", large gatherings weren't even an option. Low key was just what we needed; especially since I've been dealing with some personal medical issues.
Also, our oldest daughter had a bad case of the virus back in late November and was still feeling winded and out of breath a month later. So on Christmas Eve and Day it was just my husband and I, our two girls and my mother in law.
On Christmas Eve, we opted for a few easy apps and ordered takeout from a local Italian restaurant for Christmas Eve. The food was amazing and I'll definitely be catering from there in the future. It was so much easier than cooking a full meal for 20 people!
Which brings me back to this Olive Tapenade. It's such an easy recipe; especially if your grocery store carries a salad bar. It makes it easy to mix and match whatever olives you like. Or you can also purchase individual jars of your favorite olives; though you'll have some leftover.
How do you make Olive Tapenade?
For this recipe you'll need a variety of olives, lemon zest, fresh rosemary, crushed red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, Kosher salt and a loaf of Italian bread.
I used a variety of Kalamata, Pimento stuffed, garlic stuffed and Sicilian black olives, but you're welcome to use any variety you prefer. I try to get as many as I can that are pitted since it's hard to remove pits from olives when they need to be chopped.
Slice the bread into ½-inch rounds and place them on a baking sheet. Lightly spray cooking spray on top of bread and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until bread rounds are lightly toasted; then remove from oven and cool.
Chop the olives and add them to a small bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
You can add the tapenade to the toasted bread and put on a platter or you can place in a serving bowl and have the bread surround it for people to help themselves.
My family loved this Olive Tapenade and I was so glad we made it again. Plus it only takes about 15-20 minutes to make so it's great for last minute entertaining.
We had some leftover; which also tasted great when I added it to a tossed salad. ~Enjoy!
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Olive Rosemary Tapenade
Ingredients
- 1 pound assorted pitted black and green olives
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 loaf italian bread
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Slice the bread into ½-inch rounds and place them on a baking sheet. Lightly spray cooking spray on top of bread and bake for 10 minutes or until bread rounds are lightly toasted; then remove from oven and cool.
- Chop the olives and add them to a small bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Notes
Related Recipes
Pesto Chicken with Fire Roasted Tomatoes & Olives
Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad with Kalamata Olives, Capers and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomato, Olive and Goat Cheese Flatbread
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