Friday, November 28, 2008

Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Dip

This is a dish that came together quite by chance - an excess of roasted vegetables and a need to do something with them.

I love the flavour of roasted red pepper (bell peppers to those in the northern hemisphere) and sometimes I can go a bit overboard and roast too many. They are also way to easy to eat and I was looking at a way of extending that pleasure.

Enter this idea to make a dip from them. To add some body I found a sympathetic vegetable in the form of carrot - after steaming them to take the edge off, they are tossed in to roast with the peppers. Roasting brings out the sweetness of the carrot and the vibrancy of colour.

To make the dip, these roasted vegetables, are blended with your choice of dairy product, feta, sour cream or in this case, ricotta. The dairy helps to extend and enrich the flavour and gives it an excellent mouth feel.


Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot DipĀ© by Haalo


Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot Dip

1 red capsicum/bell pepper
2 carrots, peeled, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves
ricotta (or sour cream, or feta)


Cut the capsicum in half, remove the seeds and stem and place in a bowl along with two garlic cloves. Drizzle over with a little olive oil and a grinding of sea salt. Toss well to coat and place on a baking tray.

Cook in a 180°C/350°F oven until softened and the skin has started to blister.

During the last half hour of roasted, add the prepared carrots - steam them first for about 5 minutes to soften them.

When the carrots and capsicum are cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Peel the skin from the capsicum and garlic cloves and place in a food processor along with the carrot and process until almost smooth. Add in ricotta (or sour cream or feta) to taste and continue processing until amalgamated.

Place in a bowl and seal and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Roasted Red Pepper and Carrot DipĀ© by Haalo


If your guests are like mine, they will be gobbling this up like there's no tomorrow and combined with those flat bread crackers, it's a sure fire hit.

5 comments

  1. Very Very visually appealing…great presentation

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  2. Lovely colour! simple n easy to fix!

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  3. What a beautiful colour that dip is and it contrasts so well with the green bowl. Lovely!

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  4. Haalo, we are on the same wave line. I also made a dip with roasted peppers and Greek cheese. I would never have thought of adding carrot to the dip but it gives it a beautiful colour and next time I should try this.

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  5. Thanks Sorina!

    Thanks Vij!

    Thanks Holler - and they say red and green should never be seen! Phooey to that.

    Thanks Ivy - you know what they say about great minds ;)

    ReplyDelete

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