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Artichoke Tapenade

An uncle once told me a funny story that he was going to make a recipe for something that called for ‘pickled capers’. So he decided that he would track down fresh capers, since those would, of course, be better than anything in a jar. Needless to say, he didn’t find any. But you shouldn’t have any trouble finding capers in a jar at your local grocer. Be sure to rinse them and squeeze them dry; that step removes the unpleasant taste of the brine. I buy my olives in the Arab markets, which are sometimes conserved in a heavily flavored brine, so I rinse them, too. I pit olives by pressing on them with my thumb, being careful to stay out of the way of any squirts of oil, then pluck out the pits. Standard pitted green olives (without pimentos) that come in a jar, which don’t need rinsing, work well in this recipe, too.
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1 cup (4 oz, 120g) pitted green olives
  • 1 tablespoon (10g) capers
  • 8-10 (14 ounces, or 250g) canned artichokes, drained well and quartered
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 6 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon chile powder
  • salt, to taste
  • In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the garlic, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, lemon juice, and olive oil, and until almost smooth, but still chunky.
  • Taste, and add salt, chile powder, and additional lemon juice, if desired.
  • Serve with toasted slices of baguette or crackers.

Notes

Storage: The tapenade will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.