Artichoke Tapenade

Summer is over and as we polished off the last of the artichoke tapenade, and the rosé that we were swilling with it, to give summer one last bisou goodbye.

But because this is so simple to make, and doesn’t require pitting an endless amount of olives like regular tapenade does, I’m going to continue to make this tapenade all year round at home; where I don’t have to worry about anybody blowing the whistle on me.

Artichoke Tapenade

Eight to ten servings, as an appetizer

Adapted from Deb at Smitten Kitchen, from a recipe by Mario Batali

An uncle once told me a funny story that he was going to make a recipe for something that called for ‘pickled capers’. So he decided that he would track down fresh capers, since those would, of course, be better than anything in a jar. Needless to say, he didn’t find any. But you shouldn’t have any trouble finding capers in a jar at your local grocer. Be sure to rinse them and squeeze them dry; that step removes the unpleasant taste of the brine.

I buy my olives in the Arab markets, which are sometimes conserved in a heavily flavored brine, so I rinse them, too. I pit olives by pressing on them with my thumb, being careful to stay out of the way of any squirts of oil, then pluck out the pits. Standard pitted green olives (without pimentos) that come in a jar, which don’t need rinsing, work well in this recipe, too.

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 cup (4 oz, 120g) pitted green olives
• 1 tablespoon (10g) capers
• 8-10 (14 ounces, or 250g) canned artichokes, drained well and quartered
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon chile powder
• salt, to taste

1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the garlic, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, and olive oil, and until almost smooth, but still chunky.

2. Taste, and add salt, chile powder, and additional lemon juice, if desired.

Serve with toasted slices of baguette or crackers.

Storage: The tapenade will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.

David Lebovitz