Olive Tapenade is a classic French appetizer from the region of Provençal. Although this Delicious Olive Tapenade recipe may not include some of the traditional it does have a nice balance of olives, garlic and herbs. It goes great with the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto recipe, try it as a spread on a sandwich or panini.

Smoked Turkey, Havarti, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Tapenade on Ciabatta makes a Great Sandwich or Panini!

Roots in France with Possible Italian Influences

As stated above, Olive Tapenade’s origin comes from the Provençal region in France. But there are ties to Italy as far back as the Roman Empire. Two different Italian olive spreads can be traced back to between 200 BC to the first century AD in Italy.

As with the case of Pistou vs Pesto, as discussed in the Pasta alla Pesto Genovese recipe, France’s Provence Region and Italy’s Piedmont and Liguria Regions had a role in each others cuisines.

Dating back to the 1800s, Chef Charles Meynier of the restaurant La Maison Dorée, invented tapenade as the version of tapenade is known today. The original recipe called for olives, capers but also included anchovy, tuna, dijon mustard, lemons, basil and even cognac.

Breaking from Tradition

In this recipe, I may have omitted the anchovy, capers and other ingredients from the traditional recipe but that doesn’t mean it is lacking in flavor. The salty, brininess that is often found in tapenade is still here.

I used a blend of olives instead of using only Kalamata Olives only. Combining different olives brings in a blend of flavors that unique due to the flavors of each type of olive. I encourage you to play with the recipe and use different olives to create your own variation.

Get Some Great Olives and Ideas at The Olive Pit in Corning, CA

Olive Tapenade is a nice appetizer spread on a Charcuterie Board and is delicious on Paninis and Sandwiches as a spread, try it on Homemade Pizza.

Enjoy!

Olive Tapenade (GF) (V)

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Course: Appetizer, Condiments, Spread

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Anchovy, Condiments, French, GF, Gluten Free, Olive, Olive Oil, Olives, Panini, Pizza, Sandwiches, Tapenade, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Author: Chef Tony Zentgraf

Although the original version from France is heavy on capers and has anchovies and there may be addition of dijon mustard as well, depending on the recipe you may find.

This recipe gives a nice balance of Olives, Garlic and Herbs. If you would like to change up the types of olives or stick to one type go ahead.

If you would like to add the capers and anchovies to make it more traditional, add a 1/4 cup of rinsed capers and 2 anchovy fillets. Rinsing the capers will reduce some of the brine and saltiness of the capers.

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Recipe Multiplier

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• ▢ 3 ea Garlic cloves
• ▢ 1 ea Shallot
• ▢ ½ cup Black Olives
• ▢ ½ cup Manzanilla Olives
• ▢ ½ cup Kalamata Olives
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp Lemon Juice or Red Wine Vinegar
• ▢ 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp Fresh Parsley chopped
• ▢ 1 ½ tsp Fresh Thyme chopped
• ▢ ½ tsp Cracked black pepper

Instructions

• In a food processor, add the garlic and shallot. Chop the garlic and shallot until small chopped.
• Add all three olives to the food processor. Pulse to chop the olives. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
• Add the Lemon or Red Wine Vinegar and the Olive Oil. Pulse the mixture to blend together.
• Add the cracked black pepper, chopped parsley and thyme. Pulse to combine and to make finer consistency in needed.

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