Olive Tapenade
Tapenade is not olive purée. The right texture is deliberately coarse, with pieces of olive you meet one at a time. So the machine runs in short pulses and you stop earlier than instinct says. We leave out the anchovies — capers supply the salt and depth, which keeps the whole thing plant-based without losing anything.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Rest
- 1 h
- Total
- 1 h 15 min
- Servings
- 8
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 160 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: about 350 g, serves 8
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Rinse the olives
Rinse the olives and capers in cold water and dry them on a cloth, or the brine from the jar dominates everything else.
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Step 2: Pulse, don't blend
Put the olives, capers, garlic and thyme in the processor and give 8–10 short pulses, scraping the bowl down between them.
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Step 3: Check the texture
You want a coarse paste with visible pieces of olive about the size of a grain of rice. Smooth purée counts as overdone here.
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Step 4: Add the oil
Pour in the olive oil and pulse twice more, just to bring it together. Long blending makes olive oil turn bitter.
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Step 5: Season
Stir in the zest, a tablespoon of lemon juice, chopped parsley and pepper. No salt: olives and capers bring more than enough.
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Step 6: Let it open up
An hour at room temperature lets the garlic and thyme spread through. Straight from the machine it tastes flat and one-note.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Olives you pit yourself beat factory-pitted ones every time: firmer flesh and a much fuller flavour.
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Variation
Half a roasted red pepper blended in makes it sweeter and lighter, closer to a spread than a condiment.
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Tip
Tapenade is not only an appetizer: a spoonful under the skin of roast fish or stirred into pasta works as concentrated seasoning.
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Storage
Up to 2 weeks in a jar in the fridge under 5 mm of olive oil, which seals out air and holds the colour.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 8 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 160 kcal | 1,280 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 8 g |
| Fat | 16 g | 128 g |
| Carbohydrates | 3 g | 24 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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