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Recipe: Provencal tomato spread for Julia Child

Kathleen Flinn · August 15, 2018 · 8 Comments

Provencal tomato spreadThis recipe first appeared in The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. It’s loosely based on a dish that I learned to make while studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

During the heat of summer, I probably make this once a week and if I have to take something to a party, this is my go-to dish in the summer. You can use as it a spread for crackers or bruschetta, and also as a sauce for simple pan-seared fish or chicken. I’ve even tossed it with warm pasta. It will keep well if stored in a tightly sealed container for up a week. I named it for Julia Child because the first time I made it was for a dinner on August 15th, her birthday. I think she would have liked it.

Confit Provençal aux Tomates

Kathleen Flinn
This spread uses quintessential ingredients from the south of France. This is great served on its own with crackers or bread. I also use it to accompany seared or grilled tuna. If you can’t find nicoise olives, substitute another rich, black olive such as kalamata. Makes about 2 ½ to 3 cups.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 8 minutes mins
Total Time 28 minutes mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine French
Servings 2 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 red medium bell pepper peeled, finely chopped
  • 1 large onion finely chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 3 to 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 2 to matoes peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 6 to 8 sun-dried tomatoes chopped (¾ cup)
  • 12 Nicoise olives chopped
  • 3/4 tablespoon capers
  • 2 cups chopped fresh basil

Instructions
 

  • In a small sauté pan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onions, and garlic and cook until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers and cook gently. Remove from heat. When cool, add the basil. Add coarse salt and pepper to taste.

This dish requires a fair amount of chopping. You may want to check out my knife skills video.

This post was originally posted June 27th, 2009; it has been updated.

Related

Filed Under: French, Healthy Tagged With: Julia Child, Recipes, tomatoes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jordan says

    August 14, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    You mean, if I come to this event I get to taste some of your food! I’m so in!

    Reply
    • Kathleen Flinn says

      August 14, 2012 at 2:10 pm

      Yay! look forward to seeing you!

      Reply
  2. Andrea says

    August 14, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    wish I were in Seattle. I remember this from your book but I never tried it. Looks so yummy!

    Reply
    • Kathleen Flinn says

      August 14, 2012 at 2:10 pm

      Thanks! It’s a great dish to practice your knife skills on 🙂

      Reply
  3. Celia says

    August 14, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    Looks delicious!

    Reply
  4. knowles says

    August 14, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    Aw, I love Julia!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Happy 100th Birthday, Julia! | Kathleen Flinn says:
    August 15, 2012 at 10:19 am

    […] Flinn Skip to content HomeAboutBlogBooksEventsRecipesLessonsMedia ← Recipe: A Tomato Dish for Julia Child August 15, 2012 · 10:19 am ↓ Jump to […]

    Reply
  2. Nebraska says:
    September 19, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    nebraska

    Recipe: Provencal tomato spread for Julia Child

    Reply

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