Garlicky roast pepper dip/spread
Dips are very easy to make at home. Most of them can be prepared in 10 minutes maximum, by blending fresh ingredients in a food processor. They taste better than the store-bought; they don’t contain any preservatives and artificial colors, and you can adjust the taste to match exactly your preferences. So there's no excuse for not making your own!:)
This specific dip is always a huge hit when we serve it in backyard parties. It’s a delicious, soft, smooth and creamy dip, making it the perfect appetizer. It’s served with toasted bread, crostini, rusks, crackers, breadsticks or even veggies cut in strips/sticks. And if you’re not worried for the calories, yes, you can also have French fries with this dip. And yes, it’s a DIVINE combination!:)
The ingredients are very simple: a couple of Italian sweet peppers (you can also use red bell peppers if you can’t find those), garlic, Greek yogurt, cream cheese, some olive oil and paprika (preferably smoked).
You can use a jar of roast peppers if you have limited time, in order to prepare this appetizer in less than 5 minutes. But if you use fresh Italian sweet peppers, it will taste better! It takes about 30 minutes to roast them, and you don’t have to do anything except putting them in the oven wrapped in some foil. Peeling and seeding is very easy afterwards.
This is quite a garlicky version of the dip. If you don’t like garlic that much, you may omit it, or just use less.
So let’s see how we can prepare this delicious, easy appetizer!
- 240g/8.5oz (2) Italian sweet peppers, raw *
- 100g/3.5oz cream cheese
- 100g/3.5oz Greek yogurt
- 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- salt
* you can also use a jar with roasted red peppers, in which case you will need about 100gr/3.5oz of the prepared peppers.
Preparation: Wash the peppers, pat them dry, and wrap them in foil. Put them in preheated oven at 200 C / 390 F and let them roast for 30 minutes.
Remove them and open the foil. Be careful as it will be hot. The peppers will be a bit charred, soft, and they will have expelled some water.
Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and discard the juices. Remove the skin (pic.1) and pull of the stalks. Most of the seeds will be removed along with the stalks. Slice them lengthwise, to open them. Scrape off any remaining seeds with a spoon or the side of a fork to clean them pic.2). Cut in thick pieces (pic.3).
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
Kali oreksi!
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