Kalamata Olives And Sun Dried Tomatoes On Cream Cheese Food

MEDITERRANEAN PASTA IN MINUTES

Steps:

• Boil water for pasta in a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken strips until no longer pink -- about 3 minutes each side. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to skillet. Saute for 2 minutes. In the meantime, add the fresh pasta to boiling water, cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.
• Now add the basil, artichoke hearts, olives and feta cheese to the skillet. Saute 1 minute then stir in the cream. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl. Add the chicken saute to the pasta and toss. Season with oregano, salt and pepper before serving.

KALAMATA OLIVE AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO BAGEL SMEAR

Steps:

• Put the sun dried tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with boiling water.
• Let stand until soft, about 10 minutes.
• Drain, pat dry and finely chop the tomatoes.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and sour cream.
• Add the chopped olives, chopped onion and chopped tomatoes.
• Season to taste.
• Refrigerate until 1 hour before you are ready to use it.
• Let stand 1 hour at room temperature before using.

SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND OLIVE QUICHE

Steps:

• preheat moderate oven. Line greased pie dish with shortcrust pastry, ensuring the sides are covered also.
• Bake in oven for 10 minutes, meanwhile whisk together cream and eggs in a jug. Season to taste with black pepper.
• Remove pastry from oven, cover bottom of pastry with olives and sundried tomatoes. Pour cream mixture over tomatoes and olives.
• Sprinkle grated cheese over top, bake for 30 minutes or more. Check regularly by putting a knife into centre of quiche. When knife comes out clean, quiche is baked.
• You can also cook this in the microwave, haven't tried it personally but it can be done!

CREAM CHEESE SPREAD WITH OLIVES AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Place sun-dried tomatoes in small bowl. Pour enough boiling water over tomatoes to cover. Let tomatoes stand until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain. Pat tomatoes dry and chop finely.
• Mix cream cheese and sour cream in medium bowl until smooth. Mix in olives, onion and sun-dried tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

FETA CHEESE LOG WITH KALAMATA OLIVES AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Mix feta, cream cheese and oil with a mixer on medium speed until well-blended. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
• Shape into a 10-inch-long log (mixture will be soft).
• Combine walnuts and parsley and roll cheese log in this mixture, pressing slightly to get the walnuts and parsley to stick to the sides of the log.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving to allow flavours to blend.
• Remove plastic wrap and lay log on an attractive serving platter lined with parsley. Serve with assorted crackers and toasted baguette slices.

BOW TIE PASTA WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND KALAMATA OLIVES

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to directions on package. Be sure to just cook to al dente stage. Drain and return to pot. Place pot on burner but turn off burner.
• Stir in oil.
• Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.
• **I have also added broccoli to pasta water while cooking pasta and this is very good too.

KALAMATA OLIVES AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES ON CREAM CHEESE

Steps:

• In small bowl, stir together all ingredients except cream cheese, additional basil leaves and crackers.
• To serve, place softened cream cheese on serving platter. Using small metal spatula, spread cream cheese into 8-inch round. Spoon olive mixture over cheese. Serve with crackers.