Afro-Sheen

I made Olive Tapenade & Pesto yesterday for a party & everyone loved it. I had found recipes online, but tweaked it according to what i had on hand.

Olive Tapenade
1 1/2 cup Kalamata Olives. (I used 1/2 cup kalamata & then the rest I mixed various black & green olives from the Olive Bar at Shoprite)
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/5 cup good extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1 handful of a fresh herb you like. Most recipes call for parsley but I had coriander & it worked out great!
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon (depending on how much sour u wanna add. Remember the olives sometimes sit in a sour/vinegary marinade)
8 ounces of Alluet Cheese (You can use sour cream or Cream cheese as well)

In a Food processor add garlic, sundried tomatoes & herbs. Process on pulse until well minced. Then add in the oil, lemon juice & olives. Pulse a few times till chopped up but NOT mush. You may wanna scrape and pulse again.
In a small serving bowl thing i put a layer of sour cream (1 inch) and then topped evenly with the Olive Tapenade.
I served with sliced & toasted crusty bread (French baguette) drizzled with olive oil & fresh veggies (brocolli & carrots).

Afro-Sheen

Basil Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed)
1/4 cup GOOD parmesan cheese, grated
5-6 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts (can substitute walnuts)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (some more to cover)
salt/pepper

Pick the leaves off the stems & then wash/drain basil leaves with cold water. First chop the pine nuts, garlic & lemon juice well. Add in the basil leaves & parmesan cheese. Pulse.
Slowly add in the olive oil while processing on low. Add salt/pepper to taste. If you want add more olive oil to desired consistency (should have gotten a bit creamy due to processing with EVOO. This can be added to alfredo sauce for a yummy pesto alfredo.

Anyways I also served this with crustry bread. I sliced the bread, rubbed garlic onto it & drizzled with olive oil. Bake about 10 minutes till toasty. I served as an additional dip. But also i served some slices of bread with a mini dallop of pesto, a few slices grape tomato & some mozzarella cheeze. Very yummy!

pinklove

ive got to try these, they sound delish afro-sheen!

pinklove

for the basil pesto dish, which brand of "GOOD" parmesan cheese did you use?

X2

olive tapenade sounds delicious...hafta try it out sometime

Afro-Sheen

Pinklove, i just tried out the recipe & I loved it. By good parmesan I mean anything that's not bottled & powdered If anything use Kraft or whichever says its 100% parmesan.
I like to go to cheese section & just pick up a nice small wedge of parmesan cheese & grate it myself.

RupayHalwa

Afro, the olive tapenade must have been really nice. i make some without tomatoes or cheese and thats nice enough, next time i'll use your recipe.

Afro-Sheen

Rupay, the parmesan cheese is for the pesto. But yeah I really liked the sun dried tomatoes in the tapenade.....not only adds to the taste, but makes it look more appetizing

shining_star

Basil Pesto sounds delicious.I may try it over the weekend..

BlushingRose

yummmmm it sounds soooo refreshingand healthy would love to have Olive Tapenade and sprinkle some feta on top