Olive Tapenade

Olives are like Marmite - you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. In my earlier years, I was a little tentative in trying new foods. Growing up in a family that had sit-down traditional Chinese meals every dinner, olives were one of those “new” foods. It was only when I met J, did I start being more adventurous.

I absolutely adore the well-ripened black olives, but don’t really care for the unripe green ones. I particularly like the ones that aren’t salted. It’s something about their delicious richness when you bite into their flesh, releasing all their oily goodness.

There are a huge variety of olives available, but for this recipe I’ve chosen to use the trusty Kalamata olive. You can use anchovies to add an additional depth to the flavor, but remember to go light with the salt.

I use this tapenade as a spread in J’s sandwiches, with chicken or feta cheese. It also works well with white fish.


OLIVE TAPENADE

Ingredients
185 g (6 ½ oz) drained, pitted Kalamata olives
1 ½ t olive oil
2 T freshly chopped parsley
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the desired consistency. Store in a jar in the fridge until needed. Enjoy!