olive and fig tapenade

I’ve been on a bit of a “clean out the pantry” kick lately.  I love to buy things that look really interesting, tuck them away for later and…well now is later I suppose.  This time around we lucked out. I stumbled upon two ingredients that really pair well together and so, with an extra block of cream cheese in the fridge, this tapenade came to life.  Now don’t get me wrong, I can put just about anything on top of a block of cream cheese and call it gourmet…but I really think this is a keeper.

what you need:

1 cup dried figs, chopped

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

what to do:

in a medium saucepan, combine figs and water and and bring to a boil.  Cook until the figs are squishy and the water is almost all gone.  Remove from heat and add olive oil, vinegar, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne.  Stir together.  Add garlic and olives, stir more until combined well.

Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, or up to 2 days.

when ready to serve, unwrap cream cheese, and generously pour the tapenade on top.

Serve with fresh bread or crackers and enjoy!

*if you want to get fancy, you can certainly serve this with goat cheese instead of the cream cheese.
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