Thanks to Mezzetta for sponsoring this Holiday recipes post about Olive Cheese Bites. All opinions are 100% our own.

If I buy olives for any recipe, I usually have to hide them because my husband loves them and will eat them straight from the jar. No matter what the type, black, green or stuffed my family eats them up. So when tasked with making holiday recipes using olives I knew it would be a hit in my house. I have made puttanesca sauces, an olive and fish recipe and usually just throw them into Greek salads so this would be a challenge but one that I was up for. I decided to try Olive Cheese Bites a great holiday appetizer.

I hit Walmart and found a large selection of Mezzetta olives available. I did not realize they had so many choices Family owned since 1935, Mezzetta family sources the finest fresh produce from the sun-drenched soils of California, Italy, Spain, France, and Greece and prepare them according to our Italian family recipes in the Napa Valley. I am so excited to try some of Mezzetta Holiday Recipes

Inspiration is just a twist away!

 My first thought was to have a bloody mary bar, with options like feta stuffed olives, colossal olives to name a few of the choices.
This is what I brought home and now I needed to brainstorm.

I found lot of olive tapanade recipes but thought that might be a little too strong for my family and not sure how it would be accepted at holiday parties. How about Olive pastries using a improvised olive tapanade recipe, let’s give it a go.

 

If you can find the Mezzetta tapenade buy it if not, grab a couple different varieties of olives. Instead of using fresh garlic I used some of the olives that were stuffed with Garlic. (time saver)  I don’t recommend using any of the cheese stuffed ones, but hey if you do let me know how it comes out.

This is really a loosey goosey recipe, just add a bunch of olives and a tablespoon or so of Capers. Mix in a food processor. Add a little olive oil to make it into a spreadable consistency. DONE!!

For the dough part, I used frozen bread dough, but you can use refrigerated pizza dough too.

Simply roll out the dough to a thin rectangle (no need if using refrigerated dough).

Top with your tapenade and cover with 2/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Roll it up like a cinnamon roll, I always have trouble making sure it is tight enough.

Then slice into 1 inch slices and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Done!

I placed them on a platter with extra olives to let guests know what they were. They also are a great compliment to a bowl of soup.

Either way, grab a few jars of Mezzetta Olives and get make your season flavorful. Be sure  to grab this $.50 off coupon on any Mezzetta products.

Also be sure to enter the Mezzetta Daily Holiday Gift Basket Giveaway for a  chance to win daily prizes. The giveaway will run from December 1st through December 31st. That means there are 31 daily prizes! Enter HERE!