Kalamata Olives And Sun Dried Tomatoes On Cream Cheese Food

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.

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 KALAMATA OLIVE TAPENADE

Steps:

• Place first 8 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Add parsley, and pulse 8 to 10 times or until minced.
• Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve.

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.

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.)

PENNE WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND ASIAGO CHEESE

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to directions. Closer to the end of the pasta cooking, heat oil in pan and add garlic. Sauté for about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Do not brown garlic. Combine sun dried tomatoes, basil, pepper flakes, salt and cheese for about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Pour oil mixture over pasta and mix. Serve with additional shredded Asiago cheese on top.
• For additional flavour you can add Kalamata olives (pitted) to the pan and sauté with sun dried tomatoe mixture.

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.