Many (many) years ago whilst still in school, Mr Grumpy took it upon himself to shake up his Home Economics class by making green hot cross buns. He can’t remember the timing of this particular incident. It may have coincided with St Patrick’s Day. It may just have been one of those “lets see what happens” moments. The teacher just shook her head at him. Bit of an anti-climax really, other than the green buns. Not being a fan of artificially coloured food myself, this bright green chunky spinach and basil dip is my nod to the Irish.
Chunky dips have become very popular in recent times, with good reason. They are extremely moreish. I can eat almost a full tub on my own if not watched carefully. The problem is that most of these dips are padded out with cheap oils, fillers and unnecessary additives and preservatives.
Dips are incredibly easy to make at home, but for some reason we buy them instead. It has to be a mental block. It seems too much like hard work to make dip, but in reality they can be whipped up in the time it would take to even find a car park at the supermarket, let alone get into the store to buy the packaged variety.
The hardest task in making this dip is getting the skin off the garlic. If you smash the clove with the flat blade of a knife, the skin will split and be easy to remove. Throw all the ingredients into a food processor (or Thermomix), pulse and you are done.
In our house, this chunky dip doubles as a sandwich spread. The Princess uses it in her sandwiches and I love it spread on toast with slices of heirloom tomato. If you want to use it solely as a dip then thin it out with more olive oil and serve it with sourdough toasts or crackers.
If you are off to a St Patrick’s Day celebration this weekend, shun the artificially coloured food and whip up a bright green dip instead. When asked where it was purchased, you can proudly say you made it yourself.
Chunky Spinach & Basil Dip
I make this in my Thermomix, and have given the instructions below for this process. The method will be identical in your food processor or blender.
The dip will keep for up to one week in an airtight container in the fridge. Author: Tania @ The Cook’s Pyjamas Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 70g Parmesan cheese, cut into cubes
- 100g spinach
- A large handful (20g) basil
- 100g cashews
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 60ml olive oil
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Salt & pepper
- Place the garlic and the Parmesan cheese into the mixing bowl and grate for 7 sec/Speed 9
- Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed above.
- Press Turbo (Pulse in a food processor) briefly 3 – 4 times to achieve the desired consistency.
- Press the ingredients down in the bowl if necessary between each pulse.
- Remove the dip to a bowl.
- At this stage you may wish to adjust the seasoning or the consistency according to your needs. Add more lemon juice and seasoning as required. Thin the consistency with more olive oil.
- Store in the fridge for up to one week.
It does not matter if you over process this dip and it becomes smooth. It will still taste as good. Pretend you meant it to be like that.
The olive oil will cause the dip to thicken in the fridge. If you are making this in advance, allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 – 20 minutes before serving
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