Olive Tapenade suggestions

[gtrekker2003]

Hi!

What do you do with black olive tapenade? I usually just spread it on a sandwich with roast beef and mayo on the other side. Any other ideas? I'm sure there must be plenty of other uses I just don't know about.
Thanks,
gtrekker2003

[piccola]

So many options, so little time.

It's good on pizza, as a sub for the tomato sauce. Just make sure you cut down on the salty toppings or else it'll be inedible.

You can take some bread dough, roll it out, spread the tapenade on there, roll it back into loaf shape and bake. Voilà - olive swirl bread.

Combine with mild unripened cheese (ie, tuma) as a filling for phyllo pastries.

Put a dollop on cucumber slices or inside halved cherry tomatoes for hors-d'oeuvres.

Mixed with butter as a vegetable topping (this is really good with asparagus or artichokes).

As someone else mentioned, it's also great as a salad dressing - I like it with a simple tomato and onion salad, sometimes with arugula.

[sweetTooth]

I use it in a filling "pantry pasta" when I'm out of veggies on a weeknight. Heat a bit of oil in a skillet, add finely chopped onions and pinch of dried thyme. After a few minutes when onion is translucent and starting to color, add some minced garlic, slivered sun-dried tomatoes, olive tapenade and chilli flakes. Saute 2-3 minutes. Cook your favorite small pasta shape - elbows, orchiette or similar. Add some canned chickpeas to the skillet and warm through. Toast some walnuts, chop coarsely, set aside. Wash, pat dry and finely chop italian parsley or cilantro, set aside. When chickpeas are warmed through, add drained cooked pasta to the skillet and a little bit of pasta cooking water. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Adjust amount of "sauce" by adding more pasta cooking water. Top with freshly grated parmigiano, cilantro/parsley and toasted walnuts. Serve right away.

[sweetTooth]

Just remembered another use - this is from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone. Spread thick slices of toasted baguette with olive tapenade and crumble goat cheese on top. Stick under broiler for a minute or so until cheese melts or browns a little.

[digkv]

I add it to balsamic vinegar or lemon juice and add oil to make a nice olive-y dressing. I think alton brown made olive bread with leftover tapenade once.

[Quine]

It's amazing good in egg salad or deviled eggs.

[Mr. Cookie]

Val's on the right track for sure. Roasted or grilled salmon pairs great with olive tapenade.

[Val]

If you like fish, tapenade is great spread over a fillet and roasted in the oven...I usually add some sun-dried tomatoes...very Mediterranean.