Saturday, May 9, 2009

Sun Dried Tomato Spread with Kalamata Olives and Toasted Almonds

I stole this recipe.

(I've done it
before.)

Actually, what I did was figure it out from the ingredients listed on the container. Did a darned good job of it too (yes, I'm sayin' so), not having proportions and all.

So, is that stealing?

Maybe so. Maybe not.

All morning I tried to find a web site for the local producers of Paolo's Antipastos by Hasta Be Pasta, but they don't seem to have one which is a bummer because I'd like to give them credit.

At any rate, here is my iteration just in time for outdoor lounging on the deck, sipping a glass of dry rosé and nibbling on noshes while a warm, almost-summer breeze ruffles your hair and the grill is waiting to do its duty for dinner.

This sunny spread takes about 2 minutes to whip up in the food processor and is a wonderful accompaniment to rustic artisan breads. Have your ingredients assembled and ready to go, and don't forget to toast those almonds; it makes a difference.


Sun-Dried Tomato and Kalamata Olive Spread
Preparation and ingredients proportions by Christine, lifted from the ingredients list of Paolo's Antipastos
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 8-ounce jars (about 1 heaping cup, packed) sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
Juice from 1/2 of a large Meyer lemon
Fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano, chopped (see Cook's Notes)
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
Olive oil if needed
Preparation:
Place the sun dried tomatoes, kalamatas, lemon juice and herbs in a food processor and pulse several times until a it becomes a chunky, spreadable consistency.
Add the almonds and pulse just until they are broken up but visible.
You can thin the spread, if desired, with a drizzle of olive oil now, but I didn't need to.
That's it. Get out your antipasto tray; load it up with great cheeses, good bread, salami and cornishons and get out to the deck. Don't forget the wine.

Cook's Notes:
> I picked the herbs fresh from my garden. When chopped, had about 1 tablespoon each of the rosemary and oregano and about 1/2 teaspoon thyme. You should feel free to use whatever herbs you have on hand that will go with tomatoes, which is the dominant note in this spread.
> I experimented with making this spread earlier this spring, using up the remainder of my slow-roasted tomatoes that had been in the freezer since last fall. It worked very well and I was proud to have a spread that was made with mostly locally grown ingredients. This time, lacking said tomatoes, I used a product made in the Napa Valley, not too terribly far from my kitchen. It made a very good spread, but if you're lucky enough to put up your own sun dried tomatoes, so much the better.
> This recipe made enough spread to fill two 5-ounce containers.










Copyright © 2005-2009, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

18 comments:

  1. Nice goin' on figuring out the ingredients and patience to get it right. These flavours speak to my Greek tastes...yum!

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  2. Stealing...I can't really fit that with this, seems like you have to do too much problem solving and invoke too much creativity to call it anything but brilliant. Sure sounds lovely to me.

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  3. Nope, would not call it stealing~would call it reinventing with a few added ingredients.I could eat this for a meal-love that bread. A great way to have used up those extra tomatoes from the freezer. I think I may have some hidden in there somewhere.Simple and healthy!!

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  4. Thank you Peter. It's such a bright and sunny thing to spread on good bread.

    Thank you, Tanna. You are too kind.

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  5. You'll never regret switching to comment moderation. You can screen out any comment you don't want that way without it ever showing up on the blog. I'd never go back. (And I took off the captcha letters too, because comment moderation catches them.)

    Loving the sound of this. I have something similar in a jar, but it has pine nuts instead of almonds. Also I have a surplus of slow-roasted tomatoes in the freezer. (No idea how that happened, but there they are!) Perfect timing. Saving the recipe.

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  6. Hi Jann! I'm positive you will like this!

    I hope you're feeling better now, Kalyn. You must be to be up and commenting. :) Yes, I do love the comment moderation. I don't know what the captcha letters are though. Would you tell me please?

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  7. This spread looks delicious. Will make it for a Memorial Day get together. Thanks Christine.

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  8. I'm so glad my recipe will grace your holiday weekend table, Penny.

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  9. I'm distracted by your new profile pic - love the hair-do :)

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  10. Well... thanks Cynthia. Actually, I got a perm to help me get past that dreadful mid-growing-out stage where I'm apt to have it all chopped off again. Got through it this time - hair is longer and definitely straighter. :)) Guess I need to take another profile pick... never a fun thing for me to do.

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  11. I just love all of the flavors in this, Christine. I always have a container of sun-dried tomatoes in the fridge.

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  12. Thanks Susan. I hope you'll try it out.

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  13. Oh, I'd love to try this!

    Paz

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  14. I'm sure you would like it Paz!

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  15. beautiful tapenade. I love the addition of sun dried tomatoes. It really gets the perfect texture.

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  16. Hi Christine

    I never tried the combo. Usually I do eighter or. Nice idea. Thanks!

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