It’s “what can I bring?” season with barbecues, beach days, and outdoor gatherings dotting the calendar. My default? A portable, packable, sharable DIP! Inspired by Spanish romesco, a Catalonian sauce with roasted red peppers tomatoes, almonds, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, my Smoky Tomato Dip adds white beans to the party for a bit more heft. It’s packed with pantry flavor boosters like smoked paprika, tomato paste AND sun-dried tomatoes. It’s a dense bean DIP (see:
dense bean salads) and the perfect blank slate for garnishing.How to Use It:
Scoop it up with crudités, crackers or torn bread
Swipe it under a platter of grilled or roasted vegetables
Slather it on a turkey sandwich
Spoon it onto jammy eggs for a quick snack or breakfast with avocado toast.
Pair with shrimp, fish, chicken or pork
Thinned out with a little water? A zesty dressing for pasta salad.
Dolloped onto tomatoes and burrata? Your caprese salad just became dinner.
Smoky Tomato Dip 🍅
Yield: about 2 cups dip, multiplies easily
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups (one 15-ounce can) cooked white beans, drained
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 teaspoon Espelette-style dried chile, plus more for topping
Sea salt to, to taste
Cut vegetables, crackers or crusty bread, for serving
For topping (optional!)
Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
Fresh herbs like basil, chives, cilantro or parsley
Edible flowers! I like marigolds, bachelor buttons and pansy petals
Directions:
Put sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Set aside for about 5 minutes.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Lower heat and add tomato paste, using a spoon to mash and spread into oil until fragrant, another few minutes. Mixture will look textured, that’s OK.
Add smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder, cooking for another minute to wake up spices.
Remove from heat allow to cool for a few minutes.
Drain sun-dried tomatoes, discard soaking liquid. In a food processor or blender, puree soaked sun-dried tomatoes with tomato paste mixture, white beans, vinegar, almond butter and chile until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
To serve, spoon dip into a shallow bowl, using the back of a spoon to swoosh and swirl the top. Top with cherry tomatoes, herbs, a drizzle of olive, additional chile or any toppings you like.
The dip should taste like a balance of savory/sweet/tangy with a good helping of salt to balance out the sweetness of the tomatoes. Add more vinegar, salt, chile and olive oil, blending until it tastes great!
Substitutions & Notes
Sun-dried tomatoes: use dry-packed or oil packed. If using oil packed, drain before soaking in water (save the oil for garnishing!)
Smoked paprika: look for Spanish pimenton, which comes in sweet (dulce) or spicy (picante) varieties. Both are great! Trader Joe’s also sells a sweet version that’s pretty good, but admittedly not as great as this one.
White beans: chickpeas, butter beans or navy beans,
Red wine vinegar: sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar or white balsamic.
Almond butter: sunflower butter, tahini, cashew butter or a handful of whole roasted nuts or seeds.
Espelette-style Chile: any dried chili flakes you have, a splash of hot sauce, or omit.
More Easy Summer-y Garnish ideas:
Charred corn and/or grilled or roasted peppers (store bought is fine)
Crumbled feta in brine or fresh goat cheese
A drizzle of pesto
Coarsely chopped olives
Chopped crispy bacon & little gem lettuce for scooping for a BLT vibe
Shaved manchego, chopped marcona almonds and Ines Rosales crackers to drive home the Spanish inspiration.
Announcements 📢
Learn how to cook with me at a Seaside Supper class in San Francisco on July 17th. We’re making Ina Garten-inspired Lobster Rolls! Sign up here!
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This looks SO GOOD!
This is so up my alley!