Olive & Basil Cheese Dip
A few years back I was at a combined 30th birthday party for my wife's boss and her partner. A few days later, my wife came home and said that her bosses mother had come into work that day and handed her a note for me. For me? My wife was understandably curious, and so was I.
Well, it turns out that during the evening of the party I had complimented her on the dip she had made that night. She had remembered that I was impressed with it, and was giving me the recipe, which I later found out is not a common thing for her to do. She keeps a highly guarded cookbook apparently.
So I thought that I would share it with you today as my cook book is not so guarded...well, anymore that is.
Ingredients
- 250 grams Softened Cream Cheese
- 200 grams Feta Cheese
- 1/3 cup Basil Leaves
- 1/4 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 15 Kalamata Olives
Method
Combine the cream cheese, feta, basil, pepper and 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a food processor and work until smooth. Spoon into a serving bowl.
If you don't have a food processor, the dip can be made by hand. Just mix the cheeses together with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl, then finely chop the basil and mix through. It does take a bit of good ole elbow grease though. I have found using a softer feta cheese, like Danish, or some Australian varieties makes the job a little easier when doing it by hand rather than the harder Greek style feta.
Finely chop the kalamata olives and fold them into the cheese and basil mix. Smooth the surface of the dip with the back of a spoon.
Pour over the remaining oil, or as much as you like if it seems too excessive for your taste. Remember that the wider the serving bowl, the thinner the oil spreads out, and garnish with some extra black pepper.
Serve on warm bruschetta or mini toasts.