Olive Paste And Blue Cheese Canapi Recipes

CUCUMBER & BLUE CHEESE CANAPéS

Steps:

• Beat the ricotta with the blue cheese and onion until really smooth. Arrange the cucumber slices on a large platter. Top each cucumber slice with some of the cheese mixture - you can pipe it on if you want a professional finish.
• Top half with a grape and sliver of pecan, and the remainder with pomegranate seeds and thyme. Keep chilled until ready to serve. Will keep in the fridge for up to one day.

BLACK OLIVE PASTE

Steps:

• To pit the olives, you can use a cherry/olive pitter, but I've found that the olives frequently slip through the holes instead of just the pits.
• Another way to pit olives is to put them inside a folded kitchen towel and then bang on them with a mallet, cutting board, small frying pan, or whatever suits your fancy.
• Sure the olives get bruised, but what do you think is going to happen in the food processor?.
• Mixing raw garlic and olive oil provides an ideal breeding ground for the anaerobic bacteria which cause botulism.
• If I'm going to keep the paste around for a number of days, which I usually do, I'll mince the garlic, add it to the oil and then heat both in the microwave.
• I try not to cook the garlic too much in this manner- you just need to heat the oil and garlic up to 140 or 150 degrees for a while.
• Mix all of the ingredients in food processor.

SPANISH OLIVE AND CREAM CHEESE CANAPES

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cut 40 rounds from bread slices with cutter, then brush 1 side of each round with butter and bake on a large baking sheet until pale golden, about 8 minutes. (Leave toasts on baking sheet.)
• Preheat broiler.
• Finely grate Parmigiano-Reggiano using rasp (you will have about 1 cup). Mash together cream cheese, olives, scallion, bell pepper, paprika, and Sherry until combined well, then top each toast with 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Broil canapés about 4 inches from heat until Parmigiano-Reggiano begins to turn golden, about 1 minute.

OLIVE PASTE

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse to make a smooth paste of the olives, capers, garlic, and thyme(if using dried).
• Add the olive oil while the food processor is running.
• Season with black pepper and add the lemon juice(and thyme if using fresh).
• Enjoy!

OLIVE PASTE AND BLUE CHEESE CANAPI

Steps:

• Place the olives, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil in the bowl of a processor and chop as finely as possible. [May be prepared ahead]
• Spread thinly on bread slices.
• Cover with blue cheese.
• Decorate with a piece of black olive.
• Makes 2 canapis per serving.