Party Food | Olive Tapenade Crostini Bites Recipe

The Holiday season is here, and I find myself mentally salivating over all the dazzling party food ideas and quick recipes I can serve for my end-of-year parties.

Let's just say I'm a tad obsessed with canapés and appetizers this time of year. It's sort of a personal challenge to try to find THE perfect Holiday recipe that ticks all the boxes (quick, easy, tasty, pretty...), and become my new go-to party food favorite!

Since moving to the south of France some years ago, I naturally immersed myself in the culinary culture, and homemade olive tapenade has become somewhat a Holiday party staple.

It really ticks all the aforementioned boxes, and tastes divine when paired with other local Mediterranean delicacies like crusty artisan baguettes, soft goat's cheese, mozzarella, basil, sun ripe tomatoes, piquillo peppers...

And this year, I'm doubly excited at the prospect of making this recipe, since I discovered the Mezzetta brand and their Garlic Stuffed Olives - which not only helps to cut the preparation and making process in half (there's already garlic in the olives, you guys!) it tastes much silkier and smoother than using raw garlic like in my usual recipe. SO yum!!

And I can't wait to try their many other varieties in this recipe too, like the Greek Kalamata Olives, Jalapenos Stuffed Olives or the Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives...yummy thoughts!

Ingredients:

* Mezzetta Garlic Stuffed Olives

* Extra virgin olive oil

* Freshly ground black pepper

* Baguette cut in half-inch slices - I used a grainy and a white variety

* Toppings of choice: soft goat's cheese, mozzarella, herbs, cherry tomatoes, piquillo peppers

Directions:

1) Make the Tapenade: Add the Mezzetta Garlic Stuffed Olives to a food processor and blitz until you get a fine paste (it's still a little coarse, that's how tapenade should be;  but all the olive and garlic has been chopped up into tiny pieces). Stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season to taste with black pepper. 

2) Make the crostini: Add your baguette slices onto a griddle pan on a medium to high heat to toast on both sides. Only takes a few minutes. You can add a little drizzle of olive oil if you like before toasting. 

3) Assemble your crostini bites: Take crostini out of the pan, and top each slice with a heaped teaspoon of tapenade and your toppings of choice, then drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Some of my fav combinations are:

* Tapenade on it's own

* Tapenade + fresh piquillo pepers

* Goats' cheese + tapenade + chopped herbs

* Tapenade + Mozzarella chunks

* Tapenade + roasted piquillo peppers

* Tapenade + cherry tomatoes

 

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Mezetta but all recipes and opinions are my own.