Kalamata Olive Tapenade

The first night of summer the year we got engaged, Debbie and I ate dinner with my dad and his girlfriend at Seasons 52. It's an upscale joint with some marvelous seasonal dishes. Along with dinner, we had a small vegetable dish called Organic Tomato Tapenade. The aromas and flavors of this dish stuck with us long enough that we had to try making our own.

First you need a tapenade. We created one from kalamata olives.

Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
• 3–5 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
• black pepper, to taste

Directions

Chop the olives (we like something between chopped and minced), and mince the garlic. Then stir to combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

He said

I'd suggest adding the oil, vinegar, and bread crumbs in stages so you can get the consistency you want. Then use this on anything you like, from toast to crackers to your fingers. If you want to try it the way we first did, here's our take on the Tomato Tapenade.

The Urmans' Tomato Tapenade

Ingredients

• Kalamata Olive Tapenade, approximately 1 tablespoon per tomato half
• tomato halves, anything from a medium globe, roma, or small beefsteak should work
• fresh shaved Parmesan, Asiago, or other hard cheese; optional
• balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Slice the tomatoes in half such that you have as wide a surface as possible. For instance, slice a roma tomato vertically, or a globe tomato horizontally.
2. Optionally roast your tomatoes on a grill over medium heat for about two minutes per side.
3. Plate the sliced tomatoes, and spoon a generous serving of tapenade on top of each tomato half.
4. Optionally top with a few shavings of your favorite hard cheese.
5. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar over each topped tomato half.

He said

We've come back to this recipe a few times already this same summer, so posting this seemed to be an appropriate way to say farewell to summer. This recipe is very forgiving, so long as you don't burn the tomatoes too badly while roasting them.

She said

This makes one really simple yet fancy-looking addition to a meal. Consider drizzling a little balsamic vinegar on the plate before adding the tomatoes.