I love this time of year. Yes, it’s the Lenten season. And yes, crocuses are sprouting out of the ground, a sign
that spring is on our heels. But
what my heart beats for is: March Madness! Yes, indeedy. Tradition will hold and I will be glued (G-L-U-E-D, you
hear me?!) to the television coverage of the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball
Tournament. If you’re looking for
bracket analysis, go to ESPN.com.
What I have to offer is an alternative or an addition to the usual tournament-watching chow of wings, chips and cheesy, creamy dips. It’s olive tapenade.
Since moving to Norfolk, I’ve searched for a fresh, ready-made tapenade at my local supermarkets and found nothing. So, I’ve been making this recipe at home, which I adapted from a recipe I found at the blog site, The Rogue Gourmet. This tapenade is a delicious alternative to high fat dips typically served for noshing while watching sporting events. The rich and salty olives layer nicely against the smooth taste of roasted eggplant and red peppers and pureed chick peas. Make adjustments to the recipe if you are staying away from salt (you can decrease the amount of olives) or if you don’t like fresh garlic (you can skip it all together or use a little powered garlic instead). It’s mighty tasty served with hot bread (the photo above shows the tapenade served with bread sticks I made) or something crispy like Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips. The tapenade recipe follows. Serve it up however you like. You won’t be disappointed. And catch some of exciting college hoops games over the next few weeks! They won’t disappoint either.
Green Olive Tapenade
Ingredients:
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 16 oz. can of chick peas (garbanzo beans) in water, drained
- 1 24 oz. jar of green olives with pimentos, drained
- 1 red pepper, roasted and seeded (or 1/2 cup of canned roasted red pepper strips)
- 1/4 bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions:
- Split eggplant in half, season with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. When cooled, remove pulp and discard skin.
- Take remaining ingredients, except the olive oil and black pepper, and make sure they are well drained. Place these ingredients in a food processor in batches and pulse until well chopped.
- Slowly drizzle olive oil into ground mixture while stirring the tapenande until the oil is incorporated.
- Season to taste with fresh ground black pepper.
- Nosh away!
