As I’ve said many times before, I believe appetizers should first and foremost be easy to make. Whether you’re making a large number of small plates for a cocktail party or you’re hosting a dinner, I don’t think there is anyone out there who wants to spend more than a few minutes creating an appetizer. I had this in mind when I made this sun-dried tomato tapenade, which simply involves a quick spin in the food processor.
I’ve always loved southern French food for its simplicity, which relies on using naturally flavorful, high-quality ingredients. Tapenade is the perfect example. Its ingredients really speak for themselves, with so much flavor from the salty olives and bright lemon. With sun-dried tomatoes and basil in this version, there’s an extra hint of sweetness and freshness. And while many tapenades are blended until they are pureed, I prefer more of a roughly chopped tapenade. I like seeing all of the different components (and I think it looks a lot more appetizing!).
The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. Love kalamata olives but hate green ones? Feel free to customize it however you please.
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- Splash of sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Zest of one lemon
- Two cups pitted olives (I used a mix of kalamata and green olives)
- Large handful fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, lemon juice and zest to the food processor. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes, until the sun-dried tomatoes are finely chopped.
- Add the olives and basil leaves to the food processor. Pulse the processor about 10 times, or until the olives are finely chopped but not pureed. Serve with fresh bread or crackers.
Oooh, lovely! What a nice simple recipe. It’s always good to have something low stress up your sleeve like this 🙂
This is definitely a low stress recipe 🙂 I love how the food processor does all the work!!
Love this, Julia! Tampenade is a favorite in our home. So quick to whip up and share or to keep stocked in fridge for a quick snack. I like your addition of sherry vinegar; looking forward to trying that! …. Beautiful photography and styling! Thank you Julia!
Thank you, Traci! The sherry vinegar adds a nice pop of tangy flavor, which I think you’ll like!
A quick spin in the food processor sounds like the right amount of effort for an appetizer. 😉 And I love the sun-dried tomato addition to tapenade – it’s the right amount of sweetness to cut through the rich, briny olives.
Aren’t food processors great? I love when they can do all the work for you! And you’re right about the sun-dried tomatoes–they really add a nice hint of sweetness.
I love a tapenade – there are so many things you can do with it – use it as an appetizer, toss it with pasta, use it as a sandwich spread, add to an omelet, etc.. I agree about the rough chop vs. puree. This is useful recipe, Julia – thanks so much!
The sun-dried tomatoes and olives in this tapenade sound so delicious – If this was served at a party, I’d be hovering by the tapenade:)
Thanks, Sarah! It’s always a good sign when guests are hovering by your recipes 🙂
I made this delicious, tangy tapenade for my annual Oscars party, and it was the one thing that was completely gone by the end of the night! An impressive feat in itself, but all the more incredible considering how I had to warn the guests that I hadn’t realized the kalamata olives I had used had pits before putting them in the food processor… Luckily, after much excavating, only one person (to the best of my knowledge) bit one and we all treated it with the honor of finding a baby in a king’s cake :o) Thanks for another great recipe and new memory, Julia!