Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and garlic come together to create this perfectly balanced olive spread. Serve with cashew or macadamia nut cheese and crackers and/or homemade lemon-garlic crostini.
To prepare the tapenade, in a food processor, pulse to mince the garlic. Then, add the olives and pulse to until quite fine, but not until it is paste–like. Remove the olives and set aside.
Next, roughly chop the sun–dried tomatoes. If using oil–packed tomatoes, drain first.
Place the tomatoes into the food processor and blend until quite fine (like the olives). Then add the capers and parsley and pulse a few times.
At this point, you can either add the olives back to the food processor and pulse a few times, while adding the olive oil, or simply add the tomato mixture to the olives and mix by hand.
Mixing the ingredients by hand at this stage will result in a tapenade with a more rustic texture. Add olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.
This tapenade goes particularly well with crackers and/or crostini’s as well as Cashew Cheese and/or Macadamia Nut Cheese. Either of these recipes can be made with or without the added herbs called for in the recipe.
This tapenade will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Just note that the parsley will not be as vibrant in color, but the flavor will still be excellent.