Sun-dried tomato tapenade bagels

Sun-dried tomato tapenade bagels

5 from 1 vote

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Prep: 20 mins

Yield: 5 servings

INGREDIENTS

• ▢ 5 bagels halved and toasted
• ▢ 6 ounces drained weight pitted green olives
• ▢ 4 ounces drained weight pitted black olives
• ▢ 3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
• ▢ 3 anchovy fillets
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons capers
• ▢ 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried basil

INSTRUCTIONS

• Rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes by soaking in boiling water until they soften, about 10 minutes.
• Thoroughly rinse the olives or else they may taste bitter.
• Add all ingredients except the bagels to a food processor. Process until the mixture becomes a coarse paste, about a minute, occasionally pausing to scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl.
• Slather the tapenade on toasted bagels and serve.

Tapenade is a coarse savory paste typically made from mixed olives, anchovy fillets, capers, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. These are literally Mr. Savory Tooth’s favorite ingredients, so I knew it would be a winner in his book. Tapenade, like most spreads, is very versatile; you can use it as a spread on focaccia bread, a topping for crackers and crostini, a sandwich spread, or as a topping for fish. I chose to use tapenade as a bagel spread, which makes for a mouthwateringly delicious breakfast bagel or snack

Tapenade was originally made via mortar and pestle back in the day, but nowadays you can just puree everything in a food processor. Super simple. You can tell that the resulting paste is going to abound with flavor by looking at the ingredients pictured above — capers, anchovies, green and black olives, basil, and more. I also added a sun-dried tomato twist by rehydrating store-bought sun-dried tomatoes and adding them to the mix here. The result is a richly flavorful and acidic spread that goes well with any toasted savory bagel.

Tapenade keeps well in the refrigerator, so you can make a big batch on Sunday and have plenty left over to enhance your meals throughout the week. I used leftover tapenade to breathe new life to old crusty bread and the end result tasted even better than when the bread was freshly baked.