Roasted Garlic Olive Tapenade

Sunday Funday! I’m sorry I have been so quiet in the past two weeks everyone. I’ve been busy. I did however get to spend a weekend in Elora, Ontario. A very quiet little town with a very unique touch to it. They had this really small bakery with some amazing bread. You know it must have been good, because when we got there, it was just after twelve and all of the bread was pretty much gone. Come to think of it, that bread would have been perfect for this tapenade.

So this tapenade reminded me of being back at Sheer Rocks in Antigua. Mine is a little different from theirs but arguably just as good. Olive tapenade is an olive spread from the Mediterranean. It can be salty, but that can easily be controlled. I didn’t add any salt to mine. A few other things to remember is that adding an acid, like lemon, will intensify the salt in anything.

• 1 Cup Olives, pitted
• 1 Head Roasted Garlic
• 1 Tbsp.  Toasted Walnuts
• ¼ tsp. Smoked Paprika
• 1 Lemon Segment
• 4 Sprigs Chopped Parsley
• Black Pepper 

You’re going to roast your garlic head. You can either wrap it in foil and bake it at 200°F for 2 hours or slowly confit* them in a pot of oil for 1 hour on a really low heat.

Taste your olives before you start, if they are too salty give them a quick boil to help extract some of that salt. Next we will toast the Walnuts in a pan for 5 minutes, constantly moving them around so they will toast evenly. When they are done, put them in a container to cool down.

Now, your roasted garlic, olives and walnuts are ready for the next step. Add them in a food processor with a little bit of oil (use can use the oil from the garlic) and just give it a quick blitz. The mix will never be smooth, which isn’t a problem. Once it’s done pour the mixture into a bowl. We are going to add our paprika, black pepper & chopped Parsley into the mix, stir it all in. Add the lemon juice last and add it little by little, If you put too much you can't take it out. Taste it and adjust your seasoning.

There you have it, you’re one step closer to gaining more knowledge about Mediterranean Cuisine. This spread is awesome with some croutons, or a fish. Experiment, read and learn as much as you can! Food is life! Keep cooking! Until next time everyone, have a great day. 

*To confit means to cook something in its own fat. The term is loosely used now for anything being cooked in a fat.