Here’s another dish from that little gem of a book on olives called“Cooking With Olives and Their Oils”.
This gleaming black sauce resembles a caviar, don’t it? The French have a habit of giving a rustic dish a chi-chi-frou-frou name and then charging an extra 4 euros for the dish!
How much would you pay for a plate of this pasta?
The olives that work best here are black, oil-cured olives. In northern Greece, in the Prefecture of Halkidiki where my family’s summer home is, these olives are widely produced and enjoyed. We call them Throumpes and I love them so.
If you can’t find Throumpes, no fear. The French have their Nyons and I quite often see the Moroccan oil-cured olives here in many stores. Look for the black, shiny wrinkled olive.
If you want filling, rich, flavourful…this quick and easy pasta dish is easy to prepare and the ingredients are easily accessible.
My only word of caution is to seek out a milder white cheese to grate on. A Greek Kasseri, a Spanish Manchego or Italian Toscanello would do fine. The salt in this mixture is suffice in this pseudo-caviar looking plate of linguine.
Linguine με πάστα ελιάς (Linguine With Tapenade)
1 cup loosely packed oil-cured olives
2 Tbsp. of capers, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 clove of garlic, smashed
2 anchovy fillets
1/2 tsp. sugar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pkge (675gr.) dried linguine
chopped fresh chives
Grated Kasseri (sheeps milk cheese)
- Place the first six ingredients, along with the 2/3 cup of olive oil and pulse until well chopped & combined. Scrape down the sides during this process.
- Cook the linguine to “al dente” in a large pot of boiling salted water and then drain and toss your linguine with some olive oil (prevent sticking).
- Arrange the pasta in a large platter (or individual bowls) and grate some cheese, spoon the sauce on to the top and garnish with your chopped fresh chives.
I’ll have to check out this book. Olives are another one of those things that I didn’t grow up with but have discovered I love. Nicely done!
I have a big appetite for a plate like this. It looks delicious. What’s the Greek word for chives?
We can find cans of tapenade in our supermarkets… but I rather make it myself like you did ;-). Never tried it with a pasta dish… it sounds delicious and really easy. Thank you Chico!
Oh my I think I just died & went to olive heaven! This sounds prefect for the hot summer nights August is sure to bring.
Love this Peter, so yummy, I love linguinesxxxxxGloria
Simply scrumptious. I love making olive tapenades and I have often used them on pasta so I KNOW this dish was tasty. As for Throumpes, I simply love them. :)
Mmmm Mmmm and Mmmm again lol – Looks lovely Peter, could you send a plate over please?!
PS: I’m thankful that the snails have now moved down my screen out of sight LOL
Although I’m still not too sure I’m talking to you after you calling me names!
I’m sure I’ve either had this dish or something very similar, but can’t remember where or when.
Yours look so good Peter, I love olives and I love olive oil. Great pics
Looks great Peter! That sure is a mighty bowl of it!!!
This dish certainly fulfills my salt addiction…tasty, simple and easy! Nice one Peter.
I guess we’re both riding the tapenade train this month! And I do love my throumbes, so this recipe is just perfect. Thanks for the Πάστα Ελιάς tip!
How did you know I was craving a big bowl of pasta today? :) Gorgeous!
“The French have a habit of giving a rustic dish a chi-chi-frou-frou name and then charging an extra 4 euros for the dish!”
LOL you are so right about that. That’s the thing I dislike about pretentious food. Seriously, how hard is to cook pasta? With so many delicious recipes from that book now I need to have it now. I think you should get paid for your advertisement campaign :-p
Oh. My. God.
Oooh, so delicious! It does look like caviar! I love this dish. Will try to make it soon. And credit you of course. ;)
I like the sound of using Tapenade on a pasta like this.
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
Vegetarian caviar????? Wow, Peter, this is gorgeous!!!!!
looks like a very relaxed dish – simple pasta, rich sauce. i’d like to try this
That looks really great. I have just recently been won over by black olives and need to experiment more with them.
there aren’t many black foods, are there? i never realized that before. anyway, this is obviously fantastic and, as usual, completely new to me, so thanks for sharing!
not a spaghetti girl, i always love linguini, and hmmm i think i can replace the “caviar” with crab roe (i can easily get crab roe here) hehe
Ooooh! Ooooh! Your black olive tapenade looks divine…Beautiful photos!
I’ve been craving pasta lately, and nobody has fixed it for me! I’m upset.
This looks delicious! I love olives.
Another amazing summer pasta dish. Just wonderful, Peter.
I adore black olive tapenade and that plate looks like a little piece of heaven to me (and yes, it does look like caviar!). The other thing I love to do with tapenade is to stir a couple of teaspoons into steamed chopped French beans – a wonderful cobination of sweet and salty!
When I first spied that photo I was thinking – ‘my, that is a whole lot of caviar atop that pasta’. I’m quite relieved to discover it is olives. And capers. And anchovies. I’d be in heaven with those favourite ingredients!
What an amazing colour you have going on there, I’d never thought of tapenade on pasta.
(also, I think I need to get myself a copy of that book!!)
sounds delicious..anything with tapenade is delicious anyway!!
I had seen a similar dish that is on my list of dishes to try and it also uses up asome of my preserved lemons…thanks for the kick in the buttocks ;)
Another interesting dish Peter. I never made this before.
Pete, I love tapenade but have never tried making my own – this is inspiring, my friend!
This looks great, and the tapenade looks so much better than the tub of it I bought as an emergency backup plan a couple of weeks ago…
Those are my favorite olives too.
So, I got all excited to read your comment on posting an ATK recipe. Evil grin X 2.
Oh, it does look like caviar! I love oil cured olives. Actually, I love every single ingredient in this. I could eat the tapenade by the spoonful. Yum!
Love it Peter! Nice and easy and perfect with a couple glasses of good wine all while sitting on the deck.
Gorgeous Peter. I love black olives too. That book looks like something I’ve gotta own. Thanks.
Allen, for the price of the book, why not?
Ivy, “sxoinoprassa”, right?
Nuria, you’re right…the homemade stuff is so much better.
Kat, I’ve been a real fan of these no cook sauces and pestos this year.
Gracias Gloria, hope you will try it.
Sam, I actually like Throumpes more than Kalamata, just a preference.
Jan, one plate coming up with a side of snails…just for you!
Sue, it’s been done before but this one’s simple, elegant and delish.
Judy, gotta have my pasta!
Pete, a little goes a long way with this sauce.
Laurie, again we find ourselves on the same food wavelength!
Dragon…ESP my dear! ;)
Ben, there’s a couple more in the book I’ve gotta try…comin’ up!
Mary, you there? You OK? lol
JS, thank you…it’s only courteous.
Kevin, you’ll enjoy this.
Nina, indeed it is.
Kiwi, very Greek, isn’t it?
Joanne, this dish celebrates olives.
Grace, you’re right..there’s black sambuca, licorice, squid ink, balck pepper..anything else?
Rita, no olives in Hong Kong? C’mon!
LOL @ Emi…if you were in town…I’d gladly trade ya sweet for savory.
Jen, thank you!
Jeanne, wonderful idea to mix them with green beans!
Antonia, that would be one expensive pile of caviar!
Kittie, go ahead…sign up for a copy!
Dhanngit…you have a delicious photo!
Val, it’s just a gentle thump…it’s lazy summer time…no rush.
Helene…welcome to olive world!
Patricia, it’s so easy as these olives are easy to pit.
Fearless, never buy the store’s stuff again.
Lori Lynn, my faves too but I do enjoy all olives.
Paula…tapanade with ice cream? lol
Dawn, crack the bottle open!
Arundathi…I think it’s a good buy!
Mmmm…. I love this. I have a recipe for green olive tapenade that I should share. This is gorgeous. The colors look wonderful together – you can almost taste it.
xoxox Amy
Olives and pasta– there are few better combinations. I want to check out this book. It sounds great.
I was just telling my mom about tapenades and sent her your recipe to show her that Greeks make them too! This looks so yum!
Damn it, Peter, you’ve done it again. You’ve made a dish I can’t live without. How DO you do it? Brilliant!
I never try tapenade and pasta. It’s a very good idea. Your blog puts in appetite as of the jump of the bed.
Hélène