We’ve been doing lots of fairs and festivals this year, showing off our wares to discerning foodies. Our black olive tapenade is going down a storm. It’s made from sundried black olives chopped up with herbs and spices and extra virgin olive oil, nice and simple. It’s brilliant with bruschetta, perfect on pasta but also excels as a background ‘mystery’ ingredient in pies and stews. Here I’ve used it in one of our favourites, spanakopita. 
Ingredients for 4 people
Red onion – 1 finely chopped
Garlic – one clove finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Baby leaf spinach – 350g
Mint – several leaves finely chopped
Butter – 30g
Feta cheese – 200g
Filo pastry – 6 sheets.
Ground nutmeg – a couple of pinches
Nudo black olive tapenade – 80g
Preheat the oven to 250oC. Fry the chopped onion and garlic until they begin to go clear. Wash and add the spinach and mint keeping a medium flame, until the spinach is all wilted. If the spinach is watery carry on cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Roughly chop up the feta.
Get a round oven-proof pie dish or flan case, about 10-15cm diameter, and brush the bottom of the dish with melted butter. Lay the first sheet of filo half in the bowl and half hanging over the side. Brush butter over the pastry in the dish. Add more sheets like this that go all the way around the dish (so it looks like a flower with petals), brushing each layer with the melted butter.
Off the heat add the feta to the spinach. Also add some freshly ground nutmeg and the black olive tapenade. Mix very well. Add the spinach mixture to the dish, on top of the filo pastry, and fold over the filo to cover the mixture, sheet by sheet, making sure you butter each one.
Cook for 20 minutes at 250oC or until slightly browned on top. You can serve immediately but it’s better after 10 minutes if you can wait – and better still the day after, cold.
