Food By Franz

I made this recently for a family reunion and got great comments (Sweet!). Not too much overhead and the rich, authentic italian taste was perfect for the deck in the early evening.

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
EVOO
1 C pitted olives – klamatas or a nice mix of italian olives
1/4 C fresh parsley, rough chop
Anchovy fillets (at least 2 large)
1 tsp capers
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (more if your family likes garlic)
4 turns fresh ground pepper

To assemble:

Oven to hot/425. Halve the eggplant and coat it lightly with some EVOO. Place it on foil, on a cookie sheet – roast for 20-25 minutes (soft but not mush). Turn off the oven and remove the eggplant – cool until you can remove the pulp from the skins – place the eggplant pulp in a food processor along with the rest (sans EVOO) of the ingredients and pulse lightly – add the EVOO (about 1/4 C total) slowly and pulse until mixed. Allow this to rest at room temperature (30 minutes) before serving. Great on crostini, pita, crackers. Serves as a great addition to a antipasto platter.

My sis added that the Pinot Grigio paired nicely with this tapenade.