A tasty salty and crisp appetizer that’s make ahead, and assemble later! Crunchy toasted crostini is topped with a garlicky spread of briny olives, salty capers, hearty artichokes, olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. These bites are topped with parsley for a touch of color, and optional Parmesan cheese for a rich-salty finish. They’re ready in about 25 minutes! This recipe is vegetarian and easily vegan.
A Quick Artichoke Appetizer that’s Big on Flavor
If you enjoy artichoke recipes, and olive tapenade, you’ll appreciate the flavor and texture of this simple appetizer. It relies on pantry staples with a few fresh ingredients. Let the food processor do the chopping for the spread, then whip up the olive oil and lemon dressing while the crostini toasts in the oven. You can make the crostini and artichoke spread ahead, then store them separately and assemble later.
As far as appetizers go, this is a tasty choice for a lighter option. They’re not quite as rich as my mushroom goat cheese crostini, but these little toasts are big on flavor with earthy garlic, briny olives, salty capers and a touch of heat from red pepper flakes. The crostini adds crunch!
This Recipe Is
- crunchy and salty
- garlic forward, optionally
- make ahead, assemble later
If you enjoy making homemade appetizers, you’ll enjoy this rich and flavorful olive artichoke appetizer.
About the Key Ingredients
Baguette: choose your favorite baguette for this recipe. I like a classic baguette from our local bakery, but if you can find an olive baguette, consider it a win! You can freeze baguette for weeks, and thaw at room temperature.
Artichoke Hearts: you can use whole, halved or quartered hearts. I like canned for this recipe, but you can use marinated artichokes. Just be sure to rinse throughly and squeeze them of excess liquid.
Fresh Garlic: this earthy, umami-building, pungent ingredient shines in this recipe. I use 4 plump cloves, which create a garlic-forward flavor, but this can be adjusted down to taste.
Kalamata Olives: these are briny, tangy and salty. They’re dark purplish/brown in color. Look for pitted Kalamata to use in this recipe.
Non-pareil Capers: these are small capers that have a sharp, salty flavor and tender texture. They’re a tasty complement to olives and artichokes.
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How to Make Olive Artichoke Crostini
step by step
If making the recipe ahead and refrigerating, the tapenade needs to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving. This allows the fats to soften and offers a creamier mouth feel.
Olive Artichoke Tapenade Preparation Variations
Depending on preference, there are a few ways to process the ingredients in a food processor to achieve the desired textural outcome.
- Chunky – in this variation, the mixtures spend less time in the food processor using the processor pulse function and scraping down the bowl several times during processing.
- Fine – this is the ingredient size of tapenade. You’ll want the ingredients fine enough to make them spreadable, but not as fine as a paste (pictured is fine).
- Paste – keep the food processor running until the ingredients are broken down enough so that a paste forms. Add additional olive oil as needed. This creates an easily spreadable texture.
Traci’s Tips
- Make Ahead: although toasted the same day offers a fresher crostini, you can toast the crostini up to one day ahead, store in a sealed container at room temperature. Make the artichoke spread up to one week ahead and store in the refrigerator.
- Adjust to Taste: this is one of those recipes that you can easily adjust to texture and taste. If you like a bit more spice, add an additional pinch of pepper flake. More or less garlic… add up to another clove or reduce by two cloves.
- Lower Salt: if you prefer lower salt, rinse the olives and capers before processing, then adjust the salt to taste.
Garlicky and Salty Olive Artichoke Crostini
Ingredients
- 1 Large Baguette
- 2-3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 14 ounces (400 grams) Artichoke Hearts canned, drained
- 1/2 cup (95 grams) Kalamata Olives drained
- 2-4 Fresh Garlic Cloves peeled and rough chopped *See Note
- 2 tablespoons Non Pareil Capers drained
- 1/2 cup Fresh Parsley chopped, divided
- 1/4 cup (20 grams) Shredded Parmesan Cheese optional
For the Dressing
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) Extra Virgin Olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt + a pinch for finishing
- 1/8 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes optional
Instructions
- Arrange an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut the baguette into 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters) pieces on the bias. Brush each piece with olive oil on one side. Bake crostini until toasty, lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes, turning the toasts over 1/2 way through baking. Set aside to cool.
- In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade, add the artichokes and pulse until finely chopped, not pureed. Pour into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the olives, garlic, capers and 1/3 cup parsley to the food processor bowl. Pulse until finely chopped, about the same size as the artichokes. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the artichokes. Set aside
- For the Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes into an emulsion. Pour over the artichoke mixture. Mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
- To Assemble: Spread artichoke mixture on top of each crostini and garnish with optional parmesan cheese, the remaining parsley and a light pinch of sea salt if desired.
- Store leftover crostini toasts in a sealed container at room temperature for up to two days. Store the olive artichoke tapenade in a lidded container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This is such a delicious and versatile recipe. It makes a lot, so I used the leftovers as a salsa with baked portobello mushrooms, and stirred a good helping through linguini which worked a treat. Thank you.
Hi Annie! Thank you for your note, and sharing how you use it as a salsa and with linguini (yum!).
These were amazing but now I want to share them. How far ahead can you top crostini’s? I want to take these apps to a party about 30 minutes away. Thanks!
Hi Jessica! Thank you for your note. To prevent a soggy crostini, I wouldn’t top them until just before sharing. Carry the artichoke/olive topping and crostini with you separately, then top the crostini once you arrive at your destination. I hope this helps and y’all enjoy the crostini!
Just came across your site today and I am so glad I did. This paste looks amazing and I am sure tastes amazing too. I saved this recipe and some others and will try them soon :-)
Hi Carla! Thank you for your note and kind words. Let me know if you give it a go!
This looks amazing! Can the tapenade be prepared in advance?
Hi Anne! Thank you for your note. Indeed, it has a long refrigerator life. I’ve held it for up to two weeks with good results. I hope this helps!
Thanks so much, Traci! Can’t wait to serve this at our next shindig
You got it Anne!