Tapenade

Makes a pint of tapenade

2 cups pitted Kalamata olives or a mixture of green and Kalamata olives
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, thyme or basil, minced, optional
2 anchovies, optional, but mighty
1 tablespoon capers, drained, chopped
1 large garlic clove, sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or substitute lemon juice and white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons your best quality extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper, optional

Mince olives, parsley, rosemary, anchovies, capers and garlic. Stir together with crushed red pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Mix well, taste, and season with salt and pepper, if needed. (You might need no salt at all as the olives are quite salty.) Or place all ingredients except salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse carefully until a finely chopped paste forms–you don’t want this puréed. But...Oops! You over processed? This is still quite edible if the food processor has had its own way and you have puréed tapenade.

Note: the anchovies don’t make this taste really anchovy-ish, but rather add a depth and briny factor that really adds to the tapenade.