Gildas are such a lovely pre-dinner snack: really good olives and anchovies on a stick, with any number of variations, such as artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, bits of cheese … The one I had most recently, at Brett in Glasgow, was beyond wonderful, and featured chicken fat-topped croutons and homemade green chilli sauce with plump Perelló olives and anchovies. Inspired by this, I made a lemon-spiked green chilli and artichoke tapenade for hot focaccia, topped with the same excellent olives and the best anchovies.
Gildas in carriages
I don’t usually specify brands in my recipes, but when there are so few ingredients, it really is worth getting the ones recommended below as a treat. They’re very rich, too, so a few go a long way.
Prep 15 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 6 as a starter or pre-drink snack
250g focaccia
125g jarred artichokes in olive oil (drained weight), plus 25ml oil from the jar
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Juice of ½ lemon
1-2 large green chillies, depending on your tolerance to heat
150g tinned green olives (drained weight; from a 350g tin) – I like Perelló
1-2 47½g tins anchovies in oil (27g drained weight) – I like Ortiz
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. If the focaccia is part-baked, cook it according to the packet instructions. Once cool enough to handle, cut the focaccia into 3cm-wide x 7cm-long x 1½cm-deep pieces (essentially long and wide enough to hold two slices of olive, as pictured). Put the focaccia pieces on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes, until crisp.
Meanwhile, roughly blitz the artichokes, olive oil from the jar, salt, lemon juice and chillies in a high-speed blender or food processor to make a rough paste, rather than a smooth puree.
Drain and cut the olives in half and open the tins of anchovies. Once the croutons are ready, spread them immediately with the artichoke tapenade, then arrange two olive halves and half a piece of anchovy on top. Leave to cool for five minutes, then serve warm with drinks.