This week’s recipe from David Lebovitz’ cookbook My Paris Kitchen, is. Well let me just say it. Amazing. Overused word, but this is a terrific, easy dish, and I think so in keeping with the great idea of having yummy things on hand to share with family and friends. Apparently, it is fairly common to purchase freshly-made tapenades and other good things pre-made, so I’m very happy indeed that David created this recipe and shared it with us.
I also learned that a proper tapenade must have capers in it. Thrilled, since they are one of my favorite things. One other thing that sets this recipe apart is the infused rosemary oil. I know we often see infused oils in the market, but I loved making this, since I could use herbs from the garden. I think it makes the tapenade really much more special with a terrific depth of flavor.
The tricky part about the oil is blanching and then drying the herbs. While it is called rosemary oil, it also has a fair amount of parsley as well. Once blanched, the herbs are placed in barely-warmed olive oil for about 15 minutes, whirled in a processor, and then strained into a jar.
Once that’s done, it’s time to make the tapenade itself. When I first went through the recipe (too quickly, of course), I thought that the rosemary oil was in the tapenade – not so. In any event, the remainder of the ingredients are often on hand: artichoke hearts, green olives, garlic lemon, capers, olive oil and some seasonings. Instead of cayenne, I used some Alepo pepper I had on hand.
The olives get pitted (if they are not already) and everything gets whirred in the food processor.
I served this with some sliced French bread and also some flatbreads. With the rosemary oil, it really was indeed special. The recipe says that it will keep for 4 days in the refrigerator too!
This was fabulous. We loved it! Of course, in my family, anything with artichokes gets a thumbs up. Adding the capers, olives and then topping it off with the rosemary oil – that just is over-the-top.
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dulceshome 
This was a favorite here too! I will definitely be making this when company is coming over. I’m excited to make herb-infused oil with garden herbs when they come up this summer. So many possibilities! I wonder what the tapenade would be like made WITH the rosemary oil instead of drizzling it on top. Do you think it would be too intense?
I don’t think so, but I did like the “hit” of the rosemary a little separate from the tapenade itself. I also didn’t make mine too finely pureed, and I kind of liked that too. But I think any way would be good. I’m going to the valley tomorrow and will be picking up a couple of bottles of my favorite olive oil – I want to try basil when I have some from the garden too. And will make more rosemary – it’s one of my favorite herbs – and I have a ton of it – it volunteers here from landscape plantings – I will never run out! 🙂
Everyone seems to be loving the rosemary oil. Looking forward to make it when rosemary grows more abundant in the summer months.
It was easy and fun. I thought that the fresh flavor was really nice!
I used rosemary from my garden, too. The rosemary oil is going to become a new staple around here. And I’ll be making this tapenade again, too. It was a hit for us. Yours has a great texture.
Yours was beautiful too! I think it could be a bit different each time, though I did like that I stopped before the puree. Your idea of having this along with other small plates for a summer dinner sounded perfect!
This tapenade is delicious! And totally agree with you on the rosemary oil. I’ve used rosemary from my garden pot and so happy that I have another way of using it for!
Isn’t it fun? That’s my favorite thing about growing herbs – just popping out to grab some and using them right away!
Totally agree, Candy, with everything! We loved it, too. I also was surprised to see how much parsley was in the oil and that the oil was only drizzled on the top…also due to not reading the recipe closely. 🙂 What a great back-pocket recipe to have and I love the idea of some Aleppo pepper!
I had just purchased the pepper, so wanted to use some. And apparently I may be out of cayenne??? I use parsley in my pesto too – I think that it keeps things green? at least that’s what I’ve heard. So happy you enjoyed it!
Great pictures and a lovely post! Love the tapenade and the oil (btw, I used the oil to pan fry two fish steaks for dinner tonight – delish!) – oh yes, both recipes are keepers!
Great idea!! Your comment also reminds me that I can always drizzle a little here or there as well! Thanks!!
That sounds so tasty Emily!!
Definitely a winner here too! I loved eating it for lunch…it was perfect with a nice drizzle of rosemary oil. Yours looks a lot like mine did. I left mine a bit chunky. Lovely photos.
The rosemary oil was a hit with us too. It is nice to know that you can make something like that yourself instead of paying a fortune for it!
Definitely won’the last 4 days in our house… I am tossing leftovers with pasta for lunch!
I had to pit the olives too, but it was worth it!
Yeah…we are big artichoke fans in this house too. Next time I will make the oil myself..as I just used what I had in my pantry this time.
Oh wow! You pitted the olives! That would have been too time consuming for me this week! Yours looks really good!
Maybe the parsley is mostly for the pretty green color? I didn’t want to miss out on the rosemary flavor so I added a few needles to the mixture. The pains of running low on olive oil… 🙂
This one seems like it was a winner all around! We loved it too, and I can’t wait to make it again.
Yum!