One of those dreary, rainy Sunday mornings and I had a fridge-full of bits and pieces which I wanted to use up as we were going away for a few days.

At the back of my mind was the wonderful assortment of entrées we were tempted with on a recent holiday and I decided to try and make something similar to what I had seen.

I had some green and black olives in the fridge (I’ve given approximate weights but a few grams either way won’t matter), about the same quantity of some sundried-tomatoes in oil, half a tub of cream cheese and a growing thyme plant on the window sill.

It really did only take a minute or so to make the tapenade using up the left-over ingredients and it was soon sitting in the fridge waiting for me to make the blinis.

The proper recipe for the blinis involves whisking the wet ingredients before adding the dry, but I am all for ease so put the lot in my Nutribullet and blitzed them all together and it worked well.   I was given the recipe by my d-in-law who used it at Christmas to make some smoked salmon blinis.   The recipe is adapted from Nom Nom Paleo

For a very, spur of the moment, made-up lunch using left-overs, I cannot state too strongly just how tasty these little morsels were.  My husband was delighted to try them and it is a recipe which takes only a few minutes to make and yet comes out so appetizing.

INGREDIENTS:

Quick blitz in a Nutribullet

Tapenade:
Approximately 70g each of green and black olives (pitted)
Approximately 70g sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil
2 garlic cloves
Lug of olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful of fresh thyme leaves

Start by making the tapenade. Pop all ingredients into a Nutribullet or blender and do a short blitz.  You want the mix chopped but not smooth.   Pop into a dish and refrigerate.

Wait for bubbles before flipping over

Blinis:
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
½ ripe banana
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ tablespoons coconut flour (plus extra if too runny)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Oil of choice for frying (ghee or coconut oil)

For the blinis, pop all ingredients into a blender or Nutribullet and blitz until mixed. Allow to stand for a minute or two and blitz again. If the mixture is too runny, add a tiny bit more coconut flour.

Heat oil in a fry pan and drop a tablespoon of the blini mixture in. Wait to see bubbles forming on the surface before quickly flipping over and continuing to cook for about 30 seconds. Keep warm (in a clean tea towel) whilst you cook the remainder.

Olive Tapenade, Blinis and Cream Cheese

Serve spread with a layer of cream cheese and a layer of tapenade before folding the blini in half.

Two bites of delicious-ness

I haven’t frozen blinis but I understand they can be frozen in a single layer until solid and then stored in a bag for future use.

This recipe made approximately 18 small blinis.   These little olive blinis would be ideal to hand around at a party, or serve as a starter to a main meal.

NB:  All photographs used in this blog have been taken by me, and are of food I have prepared and served myself.