Filled with salty, sweet, spicy, and savory ingredients, this tapenade has been one of our go to dishes. Ever since a colleague brought this in to a work event several years ago, it went to the top of our need-a-dish-to-pass-at-a-party list.
I used to dislike olives, but it turns out, I actually just dislike canned olives. Once I tried brined varieties like Kalamata or Niçoise, I realized they are delicious. Little known fact: olives are actually a fermented food! The canned commercial varieties are sometimes cured in an alkaline lye solution, which can affect its flavor. The brined varieties are far superior in taste due to the slow fermentation and the brine enhancing the flavors. I still stay an arms length away from those canned black olives or green olives stuffed with pimentos in general, and especially for this recipe. Read more on olive varieties and fermentation process on Serious Eats.
This is a great dish to make ahead of time if you are attending a potluck. The tapenade actually gets better after a day or two in the fridge. It is served at room temperature, which means it will stay delicious for the whole party, if it lasts that long!
Fig and Olive Tapenade can be made with minimal equipment. All you need is a knife, cutting board, and sauce pan. You can also make this in a food processor, which will produce a more combined, pureed tapenade. If you chop it all with a knife, like I usually do (mostly to avoid excess dishes) you end up with a tapenade with larger pieces. Both versions end up equally delicious, so the choice is yours: more chopping or more dishes.
All of the flavors in this dish meld together so well: salty olives, sweet figs, spicy pepper, and savory herbs and garlic. Having all those flavors in one bite makes this recipe great!
Serve the fig and olive tapenade with strained yogurt and crackers. If you don’t have strained yogurt on hand, goat cheese also works. The creamy mouth coating goat cheese or yogurt pairs well with the bold flavors of the tapenade. If you have them on hand, walnuts are also a great garnish and balances the bold flavors in a similar way.
Filled with salty olives, sweet figs, spicy pepper, savory herbs and garlic, all those flavors meld together beautifully in one bite and makes this recipe great. Makes 1 pint.
- 1 cup dried figs chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary minced
- 1 tsp dried or fresh thyme minced
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup kalamata olives chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper
- toasted walnuts
- goat cheese
- strained yogurt
- crackers or crusty bread
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Combine figs and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until softened, and liquid has reduced, about 3-5 minutes.
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Remove figs from heat, stir in the remaining ingredients, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Put mixture in an airtight container and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to develop.
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Serve with walnuts, goat cheese, or strained yogurt over crackers or crusty bread.
