Tapenade Filled Egg Halves

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 12 hardboiled egg (halved lengthwise)
• 3/4 cup ripe olives (preferably oil-packed mediterranean olives, pitted & chopped)
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 2 ounces tuna (see note)
• 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
• 3/4 cup capers (rinsed & drained)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup cognac
• black pepper

Recipe

• 1 soak anchovies in water for 30 minutes, drain well, pat dry & coarsely chop.
• 2 pound the olives in a mortar together w/the anchovy fillets, tuna, mustard & capers. when well-pounded, pass mixture thru a sieve into a bowl.
• 3 gradually incorporate the olive oil, a generous amt of black pepper & the cognac into the mixture.
• 4 remove egg yolks from the hard-boiled egg halves & crush them in a mortar w/about 1/2 cup of the tapenade, adding a sml amt of olive oil as needed to make the mixture smooth. store remainder of tapenade as described in intro.
• 5 fill ea egg half w/mixture (shaping into a dome w/the blade of a sml knife) & serve immediately.
• 6 note re tuna: the recipe recommends using fresh tuna that is poached, drained, boned & skinned. frankly i find that very labor intensive for such a sml amt, so consider canned tuna an appropriate sub.