New Year’s is rarely a big holiday for me. I never make resolutions, in part because I know I won’t keep them. You won’t see any 2009 recaps or 2010 resolutions on this blog. I hope 2010 will bring us all more happiness and less stress, which seems very promising. That’s about all I have to say about that.
However, I do have to tell you about the dip I just made for a New Year’s Eve party. I like a good party, and if you do too, you should add this dip to your repertoire because it is amazing. If you love garlic, you’ll love this. And if you think garlic is just all right (though I can’t imagine how anyone could feel that way), you’ll probably still like it a lot.
Here’s the back story: last week, I had dinner with my parents at Bocado, a tapas restaurant in Massachusetts. We had a lot of great food that night (I love small plate restaurants, because you get to try so many things), but the standout of the evening was “Ajillo azotado con espinacas y queso”: a roasted garlic dip with spinach and feta. Note that it’s a garlic dip with spinach, not a spinach dip with garlic. It was very garlicky and very good, and we drove our waitress crazy because we kept asking for more bread until we had literally cleaned out the bowl.
But its brilliance was in its simplicity, and even before we left the restaurant, Nathan and I were plotting to make our own version. New Year’s Eve seemed like the perfect occasion to try. And it turns out, it was really easy. So easy that I felt like a culinary Dr Frankenstein, standing in my kitchen giving life to a food that came from somewhere else. (If you ever hear me cackling in the kitchen and talking to “my creation,” you have my permission to intervene… or run away.)
The centerpiece of this dip is the roasted garlic. You could do it with fresh garlic and get something that tasted okay, but it wouldn’t be the same at all, because roasted garlic is a whole different kind of tasty.
Roasting garlic, while intimidating, isn’t all that hard; it just requires planning ahead. When I roasted my garlic for this recipe, I made far more than I needed, so now I’ve got a little dish of roasted garlic sitting in the fridge and it’s oh-so-exciting that I’d suggest you do the same. It’s messy enough to make that it’s worth making in bulk. (It’s messy enough that I don’t do it as often as I should.) You only need one head of roasted garlic for this recipe, but I made four, and I’m saving the rest for later.
There are a few ways to roast garlic, but this is my current favorite:
- Heat the oven (I use a toaster oven) to 350.
- Take several heads of garlic. With a sharp knife, cut about 1/4 inch off the top of each head so the tops of some of the cloves are exposed. (I’m not sure of the reasoning behind this, but it’s standard practice, and it does let you see how it’s coming along.)
- Put the garlic cut-side up on a piece of aluminum foil, and drizzle it with olive oil – this will help it not to burn. Wrap the foil into a packet around the garlic so that it’s tightly sealed.
- Put the foil packet in the oven for at least an hour, up to an hour and a half. The ideal is to have all the garlic a deep brown color, with the top just starting to turn black. It’s okay if it starts to burn, because you can remove the burned parts.
- Let the garlic cool, then remove the tasty cloves from the skin. This is the messy part. I find it easiest to work methodically through the cloves, freeing each one from its skin and popping it loose. Put the cloves into a little bowl, and discard the leftover skin. If the garlic has gotten really mushy, you can squeeze it out. Removing the cloves intact gets you the most yield, and makes the least mess. (At least in my experience -if you have a better way, please share in the comments!) But however careful you are, be prepared to get your hands covered in garlic mush and little bits of skin.
Once you have your roasted garlic, you can make the dip.
Roasted garlic dip with spinach and feta
- 1 head of roasted garlic, removed from skin
- 1 lb frozen, chopped spinach
- 8 oz feta cheese
- olive oil
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
In a large saucepan (or in the microwave), heat the spinach over medium heat until it is thoroughly defrosted and just cooked – it should soften and turn a bright green color. Remove from heat and let it cool.
In a food processor, add most of the spinach and crumbled feta, along with the roasted garlic and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Chop on medium speed until well blended, then taste. Add more spinach and/or feta until you have a nice balance – you may want all of both.
Add the lemon juice, plus more olive oil if desired. Depending on how salty your feta is, you may also want to add a little salt. Puree on high speed until the spinach is very finely minced. I couldn’t get the texture quite as smooth as I wanted in my old food processor, but your mileage may vary.
Toasted pita bread is a great accompaniment to this dip, but you could eat it on just about anything. Be careful lest you find yourself eating it with a spoon, straight out of the bowl!