Recipe by Melie’s Kitchen
Ingredients:
2 small leeks, white part only, sliced into 1 cm thick rounds
4 fat cloves garlic, skin intact
125g marinated artichokes, drained (net weight 100g)
60g pecorino cheese, grated + extra to garnish
Zest of ½ lemon + 1 tbsp lemon juice
Pistachio Oil:
¼ cup pistachios, finely crushed
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp za’atar
Fresh dill fronds
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C fan bake.
Tapenade: Line a medium roasting dish with baking paper. Arrange leeks and garlic cloves on
the lined baking dish and drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Season well with salt. Roast on the
lower-middle oven rack for 25-30 minutes, until the leeks are very soft and just starting to brown.
Peel off and discard any burnt layers of the leek. Add leeks to a food processor (or, use a stick
blender). Squeeze the garlic out of their skin, and add the soft garlic to the food processor along
with the leeks (discard the skin). Add grated pecorino, lemon zest & juice, ¼ cup extra virgin
olive oil and ¼ tsp table salt. Blitz together, until it resembles a smooth spread. Season to taste
with salt.
Pistachios: Place pistachios into a snap-lock bag and bash with a rolling pin, until finely
crushed. Heat olive oil in a small pot on medium heat. Add pistachios and cook for about 2
minutes, stirring often, until pistachios are toasted. Remove pot from heat and stir through the
za’atar and a pinch of salt. Set aside to cool down.
Serve tapenade spread over a serving plate. Spoon over pistachio oil. Garnish with dill fronds
and some shavings of pecorino.
