Olive Tapenade with a Goat Cheese Crostini

Start by soaking the olives in cold water for about five minutes, then drain them.

Take all of your olive tapenade ingredients and add them to a blender or food processor and pulse them down until everything is finely chopped. Scrape out the tapenade and place into a small serving bowl.

Next, preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Brush the olive oil onto each bread round. Place the bread onto a baking sheet and cook in the preheat oven until each round is a nice golden brown. Remove them from the oven. Rub the garlic clove gently onto each round.

To finish this off, smear a bit of the goat cheese onto the crostini and top with a bit of the olive tapenade. Repeat.

Take a bite. You should now find yourself in a place called “Flavortown.” The nice crunch of the crostini paired with the creaminess of the goat cheese and saltiness of the olive tapenade really just sets this one up for a success. Well, a success in my book, but my wife … I still did not get her to try the olive tapenade. I had my second resort which was a pickled tomato, or just a simple crostini with a goat cheese smear. However you spread it, it is simple, and delicious. I hope you enjoy.