Nutmeg Free Pomegranate & Mint Olive Tapenade
This tapenade is a bold, briny spread with a twist — the kind of thing that disappears fast at a dinner party and leaves everyone asking what's in it. Kalamata and green olives get pulsed with capers, garlic, lemon, and a whisper of cumin until chunky and cohesive, then finished by hand with jewel-bright pomegranate arils and fresh mint that keep their color and texture beautifully. That hands-off folding step is the secret: the arils stay whole and burst with sweet-tart juice against the salty olive base, while the herbs stay vivid rather than turning muddy. A short rest in the fridge lets everything meld into something that tastes far more complex than the effort involved. Warm spices like nutmeg can easily overpower a delicate spread like this, so keeping the seasoning to cumin, black pepper, and lemon lets the olives and pomegranate do the real talking. Serve it with crusty bread, crackers, or alongside grilled fish and vegetables, and don't skip the final taste-and-adjust step — a small squeeze of lemon right before serving makes the whole bowl pop.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 1 ½ cups pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup pitted green olives
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp capers, drained
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the Kalamata olives, green olives, capers, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper, and cumin in a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and no whole olives remain, but the texture is still chunky — not a smooth paste.
- 2
Add the extra virgin olive oil and pulse 3–4 more times until the oil is incorporated and the tapenade holds together loosely.
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