Tapenade for a Bruschetta Bar

Our friend Paul Spring shares our love of food and wine. He has gone to the Tuscan region of Italy often enough to have volunteered for the olive harvest there at a high-end olive oil producer.

He sent us this recipe for tapenade, which would be great as part of a bruschetta bar, an idea we picked up in a recent eLetter from Fine Living TV. We love this idea for a summer party buffet! Let your guests pick the crostini topping they want.

So, to help with one topping, here is Paul's own account of his recipe for tapenade.

I love olives. I’ve grown them, picked them, and cured my own. Most tapenade is a compromise and not very notable. This recipe tastes like olives and the orange zest gives it a fruity zip. As crostini (on grilled ciabata bread)  this  gets oohs and aahs.  

Even if you hate anchovies, don’t leave this little fillet out—it gives the tapenade a meaty, gutsy flavor. And never add salt given what the olives contribute.

1 cup pitted olives (half oil-cured; the other half Kalamata)

1-1/2 tablespoons capers

1 anchovy fillet (minced)

1 medium garlic clove (peeled and minced)

Zest from half an orange

½+ teaspoon of herbes de Provence

¼ teaspoon lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

Pepper

Put everything but the olives and the olive oil in a food processor and mascerate well. Then add olives and pulse so they are chopped but not pureed. Then add oil and pulse a few more times.

Stores for literally weeks in the fridge.