Sun Dried Tomato Walnut Tapenade with Garlic Crostini

This sun dried tomato walnut tapenade with garlic crostini is a delicious appetizer recipe that is perfect for making ahead so that it’s all ready when you’re guests arrive.

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Happy new year everyone! After a lovely little break, it’s great to be back. How were your holidays? Did you get a chance to relax and recharge?

I have to say, this year I had an exceptional holiday. I shared some funny failures and successes in my post wishing you all Happy Holidays, but what I didn’t mention was that the first part of the holidays I was busy finishing up my manuscript (waking up without an alarm at 6 a.m. even on my ‘off’ days was super fun and all, but it got done) and then after hitting ‘send’ I felt like I finally got to relax! I played tourist in my own city of Milwaukee (I totally have to create a post about all the fun things Milwaukee has to offer, especially the cool art museum I finally visited) and then my hubby and I took a mini trip to Las Vegas (have you ever seen any Circue Du Soliel shows? They’re magical and mind blowing!) and then we took the red eye flight home (never again, I was SO tired and didn’t sleep at all, so truly I was ‘red eyed’) and spent New Years Eye at home (which was a really nice relaxing way to spend New Years). I think I’m going to name 2015 the year of “busy,” it was a little chaotic at times, but still super great. I’m going into 2016 with goals of striving towards better balance (i.e., more relaxed and more planning) and health! I’d love to know how you spent your holidays and if you set any goals or resolutions for the New Year?

[Tag me on Instagram, @philiakelnhofer, “Perfect make ahead #appetizer – sun dried tomato walnut tapenade with garlic crostini from @philiakelnhofer“]

A tradition that we do with my in-laws during the holidays is that we do a Christmas tree round robin. We all go to each other’s houses and look at each other’s Christmas tree and holiday decorations. At each stop there is an appetizer. There are 10 minutes between each house, so there’s not exactly a ton of time to bake something, so this year I decided make an appetizer ahead of time so that when everyone got to our house it would be ready to serve. The appetizer I made was this sun dried tomato walnut tapenade with garlic crostini and it was SO GOOD that I just had to share it with you as the first recipe of 2016!

The tapenade and crostini can both be made ahead of time so this is great for when you’re looking for a make-ahead appetizer. Even though this is a ‘tapenade’ which is usually associated with olives, this tapenade has none, a point I was told to make by some of my olive-averse guests  who tried it only after I told them it was olive free and exclaimed how much they loved it (I too am not the biggest fan of olives, but I am a huge fan of tapenades – I make the roasted red pepper tapenade that I topped this Halibut with all the time, it’s also olive free.) The dip is darker in color because of the sun dried tomatoes which are used in the recipe. I always like keeping a bag of sun dried tomatoes on hand in my pantry, they have such a great flavor, and when made in this tapenade are perfect for using as a dip, as a spread on sandwiches or even as a topping for chicken or fish!

Other recipes you might enjoy:

• The Best Easy Baked Brie Appetizer
• 5 Ingredient Raw Honey and Goat Cheese Appetizer
• Cheesy Sausage Dip in a Bread Boat 

Sun Dried Tomato Walnut Tapenade with Garlic Crostini

This sun dried tomato walnut tapenade with garlic crostini is a delicious appetizer recipe that is perfect for making ahead so that it's all ready when you're guests arrive.

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Print Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 cup dip, 1 loafs worth crostini

Ingredients

• For the tapenade:
• 2 oz sun dried tomato halves
• 1 cup of boiling water
• 1/4 cup walnut halves toasted
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 cup parsley flat leaf
• 1 garlic clove pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• For the crostini:
• 2 garlic cloves pressed
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 baguette about a foot and a half long

Instructions

For the tapenade:

• Bring the water to a boil, put sun dried tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them and let them sit for 10 minutes. Drain water.
• Bake the walnut halves on a foil lined sheet for 5 minutes at 350 degrees, or until fragrant and golden brown.
• In a food processor put drained sun dried tomatoes, walnut halves, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic and salt and process for 5 seconds, then with the motor running on low pour in olive oil and process for 5 seconds until all ingredients are combined. Spoon tapenade into a bowl and store in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve (or serve immediately).

For the crostini:

• In a bowl combine garlic cloves and olive oil.
• Preheat oven to 425, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
• Slice a baguette very thinly, then brush each side of the bread with the garlic and olive oil and set on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake for 3 minutes, then remove from oven, flip and bake for another 3 minutes, or until edges are browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g

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