Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip

Winter is a time for making sure the oven is on and so it is an ideal time for long, slow roasting of large, less tender cuts of meat. Which I don't have today, so I'm making up excuses to turn on the oven. First I used it to proof a big batch of challah dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, a new book I received for Christmas and which I highly recommend.

Now that I've taken that out, I was looking around for something else when I came across some amazing garlic I bought during the summer from a grower at the local farmers market (where I sell baked goods, BTW). Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip it is!

Roasting garlic is simple and gives it a lovely, mellow flavor that you can simply use as a spread for bread on its own, add to butter, or use in other dips. Here's how to roast the garlic and then the recipe for the dip.

Roasted Garlic & White Bean Dip

Ingredients:

Whole head of garlic, roasted

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Canned or cooked white beans, drained

To roast the garlic, simply cut it in half or cut the top 1/3 of the head off.

Place it on a large piece of aluminum foil.

Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, 1-2 teaspoons.

Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Bring corners of foil up around the garlic on all sides and wrap tightly.

Place on a small pan or heat proof skillet. I use my 8 inch cast iron skillet.

Roast in the oven at 400F for about 30 minutes until the garlic is super tender. Your house will smell amazing. Let it cool before you handle it.

Once it has cooled off, simply unwrap the foil and squeeze the soft cloves of garlic out into a bowl.

To make the dip, add the drained white beans in a food chopper or processor. I have a mini chopper attachment for my immersion blender that works great for this.

Add the garlic and about a tablespoon of olive oil and whizz away until you get a smooth puree. Add more olive oil or some reserved liquid from the beans and season to taste.

This is great as a veggie dip or on toasted baguette.

Healthy, cheap, delicious! Also, vegan! Winner!

You can spice this up and adjust seasonings with some of the following. If bland, add a little salt or a squeeze of lemon juice. Like spice? Add a few dashes of Tabasco.