Black Olive Tapenade

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If you love olives, you’ll love tapenade. Primarily made from black olives, but always with some capers and olive oil as well, tapenade can be kept really simple or you can add a few other ingredients too. This tapenade lets those classic ingredients shine but includes a few complementary flavours. Still dominated by the olives, it is sweetened by semi-dried tomatoes, there is some zesty freshness from the lemons, and a delicious spicy warmth from the chilli and fennel. Of course, there has to be some garlic in there as well. Utterly addictive, tapenade is an exceptionally tasty and useful condiment to have in your fridge and can be used in a myriad of different ways.

Even better, it only takes 5 minutes to make. Classically, all the ingredients are finely chopped by hand with the olive oil. For ease, I blitz mine in a food processor.

What other ingredients can I use in a tapenade?

• You can add herbs – oregano, parsley and thyme being the most common.
• You can use a mix of olives
• 1 or 2 anchovies are frequently added to tapenade
• Red or white wine vinegar can replace the lemon juice
• I’ve seen recipes with shallots too.

How can I serve tapenade?

• Serve it as a dip with some crackers.
• Add to canapés with cheese and semi dried tomatoes or charcuterie.
• Add a small bowl to a cheese and/or charcuterie board.
• It makes a delicious garnish for fish or meat. Cod, chicken and lamb work particularly well.
• Swirl through uncooked bread dough prior to cooking
• Spread under chicken skin when roasting
• Spread on the side of a rack of lamb before roasting
• Add to bruschetta with fresh tomatoes
• Zhuzh up pasta sauces and soups by adding a spoonful or two

How to make Black Olive Tapenade

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is inspired by and slightly adapted from this recipe by Jamie Oliver and Gennaro Contaldo

Collect all your ingredients together:

• fennel seeds
• chilli flakes (optional)
• pitted black olives
• capers, rinsed
• garlic
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• freshly ground black pepper
• sun-dried tomatoes
• oil from the sun-dried tomatoes

Now make this delicious dip:

1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
2. Heat a pan over a moderate heat and add the fennel seeds and dried chilli flakes. Cook stirring for 30 seconds – 1 minute, until aromatic. Tip into a grinder and pulse until finely chopped/turned into powder, according to your taste.
3. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped and broken down to your liking.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and eat!

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