Can one ever have enough dips?
So here I am again, posting about what seems to be my favourite type of dish, dips! Maybe it’s my love of sharing food, and delicious Mediterranean and Middle Eastern mezes platters, that just makes the idea of scooping up a spoon of flavoursome something onto a freshly grilled pita bread, irresistible. Or maybe it’s because as I mentioned before, I can always make Adam happy with making wraps for dinner… And lets face it, all wraps need some delicious type of dip in them! A few weeks ago I made my spicy harissa paste. You can use that recipe as the base for this roast butternut dip. As I noted on the harissa paste recipe, the great thing is that it freezes perfectly. You can then take it out as needed.
Sweet, salty and spicy.
I like to roast my butternut, onion and garlic in the oven until it is deliciously caramelised and gets a lovely sweet flavour. Don’t roast it too long though, as you don’t want it to burn! The sweetness is such a great combination with the spicy and flavoursome harissa paste. This is quite a rustic dish, so when you blend the butternut and onion don’t worry about any small lumps. You don’t want any very large pieces of vegetable, but small pieces are fine. It’s actually nice if the dip has a little texture.
To finish off the dip, I add crumbled feta for saltiness. If you want to keep the dip vegan, then simply leave out the feta, and adjust the seasoning with a little more salt. I add lemon juice to give it a little acidity and balance the sweetness. Lastly, how could you go wrong with lots of chopped coriander?? Serve this yummy scrummy irresistible roast butternut dip with some freshly made wholemeal pita breads.
Roast Butternut Dip with Harissa and Feta
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Ingredients
- 1 butternut
- 1 red onion
- 3 garlic cloves, skin on
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 2 tbsps. olive oil, plus a little extra for drizzling on top
- 2 tbsp. harissa paste
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 100g feta, crumbled
- 1 tbsp. finely chopped coriander
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Wholewheat pita bread, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Peel the butternut and cut into even sized cubes.
- Peel the red onion, and cut into wedges.
- Place the butternut, red onion, garlic cloves and thyme sprigs in a roasting tray. Toss with 1 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Place in the oven and roast until the butternut and red onion are soft and cooked through. This should take about 30-40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and pick out the thyme sprigs. Remove the skin from the roasted garlic.
- Place the roasted butternut, onion and garlic in a blender or the jug of a stick blender. Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil, the harissa paste and the lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Blend till smooth. It’s ok if there are some small lumps, but you don’t want any big pieces of onion or butternut.
- Reserve a little feta and coriander for garnishing. Stir the rest through the dip, and taste to check if it needs more salt or pepper.
- Place the butternut dip in a serving bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Garnish with the reserved feta and coriander.
- Serve with some grilled pita bread on the side.
