Black olive tapenade is a very easy and quick preparation, with a more or less creamy consistency, depending on tastes and needs. It contains no eggs, nor gluten or lactose. It is a delicious, very flavorful recipe that we can use to create refined and tasty canapés, for appetizers, buffets, or aperitifs. However, its uses do not end here; the olive tapenade can also be used as a pasta dressing, both in winter and summer, to accompany boiled or roasted meat and fish, to fill gastronomic panettone, savory pies, and sandwiches. Once prepared, the olive tapenade can be stored in the fridge, in a well-sealed glass container, for a few days. This procedure can be used to prepare both black and green olive tapenade.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 180 grams
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 9 oz black olives (or green)
- 1/2 clove garlic
- q.b. chopped parsley
- q.b. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 chili pepper (optional)
- 2 fillets anchovies in oil
- 5 capers
Tools
- 1 Mortar
Steps
Rinse the capers under running water and remove the excess salt. Pat them dry with paper towels.
Pit the olives and place them in a mixer along with the capers, the well-drained anchovy fillets, garlic, chili pepper, and finely, finely chopped parsley, and blend for a few seconds, slowly pouring in the oil (a scant tablespoon should suffice).
You will immediately obtain a soft and very aromatic cream (as in the photo below). Do not add salt as the cream will already be very salty on its own. The olive tapenade is ready to flavor boiled meats, sandwiches, savory pies, and so on.
The extra idea. Instead of using a mixer, we can make the olive tapenade with a pestle and decide whether to obtain a true cream (it will take about 5 minutes) or a coarser consistency, where you can still feel the pieces of olives (it takes only 2 minutes), as you can see from the cover photo. To facilitate this operation, I put the ingredients in the mortar partially already chopped or roughly broken; then, using the oil poured very slowly, I pound until I get the desired consistency or what I need for a particular preparation.
Bon appetit
