Olive Tapenade

Last week Jeff and I had a couple friends over for a tasty Mediterranean inspired feast. When I realized that I should have purchased more meat for the main course, I decided I’d throw together a few extra appetizers to fill out the meal. Remembering that I had a good number of olives in the fridge, I decided it was time to try and make my own olive tapenade. This dish was so simple I think it will go on my go-to list for quick appetizers or last minute potluck dishes.


Easy Olive Tapenade
1 cup of kalamata olives, pitted
2 tbsp. olive oil
Skin from 1/3 of a preserved lemon
2 cloves of garlic

1) Roughly chop lemon and garlic.

2) Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until finely chopped and well combined. Add more olive oil is necessary to get it to blend.

3) Scoop your tapenade into a bowl and serve with pretzel thins, crackers or pita!

Notes:
-you are not limited to only kalamata olives. Use your favorite or mix and match. I actually threw a few green ones in mine (minus the pimento) because I had them lying around.
-If you don’t have preserved lemon, you can substitute it for about a tbsp of lemon juice and a little zest.
-Tapenade traditionally has capers in it too; I didn’t have any on hand, but feel free to add a tablespoon of them as well.