This typical dish from the South of France evokes early-evening apéritifs in the height of summer. Simply crush some olives? There is more to it than that…
Prepare the ingredients: remove the pits of the olives and drain the capers. Using a blender, mix them together.
Add the tuna and mix.
Then add the garlic, the one by one the anchovies and mix. Taste each time you add an anchovy and stop if you feel it’s strong enough.
Throughout the process, gradually pour in the olive oil. Stop adding oil once you are satisfied with its smooth texture.
Everything here is a matter of personal taste. You can obviously add more capers or anchovies. I personally use little garlic and few anchovies. However I’m very picky about the type of olives used.
Tip: The choice of olives is essential because the success of the recipe will depend on their quality. Avoid buying olives with pits already removed and choose those in olive oil. They will be tastier.
Serve tapenade on slices of bread. Avoid plain white bread, prefer toasted baguette or country-style bread.
Tapenade can also be served as a side of main dishes such as fish or white meat.
Tapenade can be stored in the refrigerator a good week (to conserve it longer, cover your tapenade preparation with olive oil).
Notes
The main steps: After removing the pits of the olives, mix all the ingredients together. Add olive oil to improve texture and taste. Serve on bread slices.