Delicious and Easy black olive tapenade

With the weather getting warmer, I am thinking of tapas. Tapas are almost synonymous with Mediterranean culture. I didn´t appreciate them as much until I came to Spain. This tapa is from France and it combines two things that I love: black olives and capers!

Yes, I quite like capers and today as I was making this I was wondering what they were. I was astonished by the answer! I found it in the Huffington Post

Capers are pickled flower buds. Tiny capers are picked from a shrub-like bush (Capparis spinosa), long before the buds ever flower. The capers are then dried in the sun and later brined or packed in salt. (To use capers in recipes it’s a good idea to rinse them first, to remove all the excess salt or brine.)

Sometimes capers are allowed to mature to a fruit about the size of an olive. These are sold as caper berries and are brined to be eaten like pickles or olives. It’s common to see them included in an antipasti platter.

     

The flowers are beautiful, aren´t they?  They grow in the Mediterrenean region. No wonder they are found in the recipes!

Ok, back to the tapenade!It is highly addictive and can easily be whipped up for company or for a snack. When I make this for my husband, he just goes bananas. Try it and maybe you will see why!

 

Ingredients:

150 grams of pitted black olives
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
5 tablespoons olive oil.
Freshly ground pepper

What to do:

Place the olives, garlic, capers, lemon juice and zest in a food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and give it a whizz, gradually adding more oil until you have a thick paste. Season with pepper, garnish with a caper or two and serve immediately. For added colour, grate a bit of orange or lemon peel on top! It can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 4 days.

 

*Excellent variations:

🍴 Anchovy tapenade -Add 2 tablespoons of anchovies preserved in oil.Trust me….the combination of flavours is marvelous! This is my husband’s favourite.
🍴Use green olives instead of black. Quite nice if you prefer green olives.

Enjoy! Xxxx Natascha