Stacey Printz - Pestos, Tapenades, and Spreads: 40 Simple Recipes for Delicious Toppings, Sauces & Dips

for Shawn and Bodealways.

There are some very important people who helped make this book possible. My deepest thanks to:

Amy Treadwell

for believing in this book from the beginning.

Sarah Billingsley

for seeing the project through with a fresh outlook and creative vision.

The Chronicle team, including:

Jacob Gardner, David Hawk, Ben Kasman, Bill LeBlond, Mark Lund, Doug Ogan & Peter Perez.

Elaine Printz & Staci Ann Printz,

testers I could count on.

Thank you to my family & friends

for everything. Especially to Mom for introducing me to the joys of cooking.

I offer special thanks to my husband

for his endless support and for always making me feel as if I can do anything.

And, finally, to my new little boy

for being the light that I never knew I was missing.

Text copyright 2009 by Stacey Printz.
Photographs copyright 2009 by Mark Lund.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-3163-4

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition under ISBN 978-0-8118-6589-0.

Prop styling by James Leland Day
Food styling by Liza Jernow
Designed by Jen Orth

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

Whether entertaining friends or cooking for our families, many of us desire delicious food with little fuss but tons of flavor. If youre like me, with a busy schedule and one too many things on your to-do list, you will agree that its difficult to find the time for elaborate and complex preparations and recipes. At our favorite restaurants, its often the rich, savory mixtures topping our appetizers and entres that tempt our palates the most. I have discovered that I can blend up a pesto, tapenade, or spread and add a rich, vibrant punch to almost any dish, giving me that same high-quality, mouth-watering meal I crave, all without high-quality, mouth-watering restaurant meal I crave, all without investing tons of time. With that in mind, I created recipes that dont involve many steps or ingredients, yet achieve real flavorrecipes with the ability to transform everyday foods into sumptuous creations.

In Pestos, Tapenades & Spreads, I offer recipes that use fresh ingredients to make unique toppings. Each recipe includes multiple serving suggestions, so youll get a lot of mileage out of each one. They last for many days in the refrigerator, so you can make one recipe and use it to top crostini for a festive Saturday night cocktail party, then use leftovers in a saut with shrimp for your familys Monday night dinner. These recipes can be made ahead of time, and many of them get better the longer the flavors meld. Cooking chicken for an impromptu Sunday night meal with your in-laws? Top it with the Feta-Mint tapenade, and suddenly you have a real dazzler thats reminiscent of a Mediterranean fattoush salad. When I am eager to see friends, throwing a last-minute get-together is just the answer. However, I want to spend my valuable time catching up with them, not doing excess work in the kitchen. Thats when recipes like the Edamame Hummus are great. Serve it with crudits or cooked shrimp for dipping, or spread it over crostini topped with sliced seared ahi.

This book is divided into three categories based on texture and primary ingredients, and each chapter includes diverse flavor profiles. I wrote this with stress-free cooking in mind, leaving plenty of room for your own personal panache, so I encourage you to be loose and comfortable with measurements and cooking style. Play with quantities and serving ideas based on your personal preferences; dont be afraid to make substitutions. Do you prefer a little more lemon? Do you like extra cheese or more honey? Go for it!

These tasty accompaniments are your ticket to turning plain chicken into a flavor-packed entre or average appetizers into instant crowd-pleasers. Why eat naked food when you can easily jazz it up with a simple topping? Whether youre using them as dips, condiments, sauces or simply slathering them on warm bread, these stylish recipes will always delight.

The following is a list of some core ingredients (with tips for storage and usage) that are useful to have on hand for many of the recipes in this book.

fresh herbs: Fresh ingredients can really make a world of difference in your cooking. The vivid, pure flavors allow for a much greater impact on the palate. If you do not have the space or time for growing your own fresh herbs, many farmers markets and grocery stores sell a wide variety. The recipes will indicate whether an alternative dried herb can be used.

tip: Store basil and other soft-leaved herbs such as cilantro and parsley like a bouquet of flowers in a jar or vase of water on the countertop. Store woody herbs in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel. They should be loose rather than tightly packed to prevent bruising and to help keep them fresh longer.

kalamata olives: These olives have a rich, salty flavor that lend themselves perfectly to many tapenade recipes. Some recipes will call for other varieties, but when in doubt, go with kalamata olives. Theyre a good choice to keep on hand in the pantry for last-minute uses.

tip: While I encourage experimentation and substitution in all of these recipes, when it comes to olives, plain black olives are not a great alternative unless they are specified. Nioise, Nyon, or Gaeta olives are good swaps. Different olives will impart different qualities to the dishsome more salty, some more mild or sweet. Play with finding your favorites for each recipe.

nuts: Many of the pesto recipes call for nuts. The most common are walnuts and pine nuts, but you will also see pistachios, cashews, peanuts, and several others. Often there are a few choices that will work with a given recipe.

tip: Nuts can go rancid easily, so always taste a few from the bag prior to adding them to the food processor. For longevity, store extra nuts in an airtight container away from heat and light or, better yet, put them in the refrigerator or freezer.

olive oil: Extra-virgin olive oil will give you the best results in these recipes, but feel free to use what you have on hand. Olive oil can range in taste and price. So, while standard olive oils will do just fine, play with incorporating different styles of olive oil that are availablefrom slightly herbaceous and full bodied to earthy, rich, and buttery.

tip: Oil can go rancid, so always smell your oil before using it in a recipe. Your nose will let you know if it has gone bad!

other key ingredients