Name: Kalamata Olive Tapenade
Prep time: 15 min
Ingredients: 3 cloves garlic (pressed or minced); 1 cup kalamata olives; 2 tbsp capers; 3 tbsp fresh parsley; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 2 tbsp olive oil; pepper (to taste)

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With Kalamata Olive Tapenade, a regular dish can take on a whole new flavor and seem like you have made something completely new. Burgers don’t have to be topped with ketchup and mustard, and salads don’t have to be topped with ranch dressing. This recipe will break the routine of the same old preparation of your regular meals.

I used to buy Kalamata Olive Tapenade in a jar until I realized how easy it is to make homemade. This recipe takes about 10 minutes and tastes better than you will find in the store. It is extremely versatile, and stores up to two weeks to be used later in another dish.

Add together garlic, kalamata olives, capers, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper and enjoy! It really is that simple.

Kalamata Olive Tapenade adds Mediterranean Flare

Try some of these and you will find yourself mixing up a batch on a regular basis.

– Top a burger with olive tapenade and feta cheese.
– Add it to a salad.
– Use as a sandwich spread. I love to this on Caprese Sandwiches, and will rarely eat a Caprese sandwich without it.
– Spread it on crackers with cream cheese or on pita with hummus.
– Fill mini sweet peppers with cream cheese and olive tapenade and bake for 10 minutes.
– Use as a bruschetta on Italian bread with a drizzle of olive oil and some arugula.

When Appearance Matters

For appearance only, I would recommend finely chopping capers and Kalamata and stirring ingredients together if using on crackers, instead of using a food processor. The taste is the same but presents much nicer. I used a food chopper when creating the batch that you see in the picture, and only added about 2 minutes to the prep time.

I would not recommend using dried parley flakes instead of fresh if using Kalamata olive tapenade on a salad or on a cracker, but I think it would be fine if serving as a spread on a burger or sandwich. The dried flakes are not as leafy and bright green in appearance as fresh.

Variations

Kalamata olives are quite salty by themselves, so when serving on a cracker, a little tapenade goes a long way. Another option would be to mix green or black olives with the Kalamata olives to make the spread a little milder.

Some variations will include anchovy, but I prefer to leave it out for two reasons. The ingredients listed in the recipe are items that are easy to keep on hand, or typically already in your cabinets. This recipe is vegetarian, so you can be confident that your guest’s or family member’s dietary restrictions won’t keep them from enjoying this with the rest of the party.

Storing and Serving Later

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 12-14 days. Serve at room temperature, the oil will have a chance to warm and will stir better.

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