Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Nat and I were just recently invited to our friends house and were requested to bring an appetizer. I decided it was high time to make something homemade. Since I have three children ages 3 and under and the most motivated, hard working, dreamer of a husband who always has us on some new adventure, I have not always had the time or the energy to make anything fancy. So for the last few years I have often bought my "dinner contribution" at the local grocery store. I wanna cry just thinking about it. I absolutely LOVE cooking and baking. So I thought I would share my accomplishment with you as well as this supper yummy dip recipe. I got this out of a Chatelaine magazine 6 years ago when I worked at Antioni's Hair Salon and I have been making it ever since. It is one of my favorites!

First you will need a roasted red pepper. I have always roasted my peppers in the oven but I once saw Rachel Ray roast a pepper on a gas stove and thought it would be fun to try. Well guess what??? I have a gas stove. Now I am excited!

Here are a few photos to help. Just crank your stove on high and place pepper over top.

Keep turning the pepper with tongs to blacken all sides of the pepper. The pepper will sizzle and spit a little but don't worry. It won't burn up. This process does take some time. Check on it often but you don't have to hover over it like I did. This is a great time to prepare the rest of this dip.

This was so much fun!!! As long as I have a gas stove THIS is how I am going to roast my peppers. The kitchen fills with a yummy aroma and the crackling sound makes me smile. Mmmmm it felt so good to be cooking like this again.

Once your pepper is all black put it in a brown paper bag and close it. This will steam the peppers and aid in removing the skins. You can also place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, or seal in a zip-top freezer bag, or put into a saucepan with the lid on. Let them sit for 15 min then remove the charcoaled skin with you fingers.

Ok here is the actual recipe

Prep time 15 min (took me more like 2 1/2 hours but that's because I had three children who needed food, faces washed, boo-boos kissed, arguments settled, and messes cleaned up...... see why I don't do this often.)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

1 roasted red pepper
1 jalapeño
2 1/2 cups (625mL) grated Gouda
1 cup regular sour cream
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh coriander (I often just use dry coriander and it is still dynamite! )

Thickly slice pepper and jalapeño and put in food processor. Then add Gouda, sour cream and feta. Whirl until pepper is as fine as you like. ( I have never had a food processor big enough for all these ingredients so I just put in the peppers and mix the rest in a bowl with a fork.)

Serve right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. For best flavor bring to room temp before serving. Goes great with tortilla chips, sliced toasted baguettes, crackers, or flat bread for dipping.

For an alternative make this a hot baked dip by replacing the sour cream with one block of cream cheese (250g). Follow the method above, scrap into a dish pretty enough for serving and bake, uncovered, at 400F until heated through and top starts to brown (about10 to 15 min). Sprinkle with coriander just before serving.

Normally I buy fresh jalapeño but this time I used caned jalapeño just because I had them on hand. I don't recommend it. It's not that it taste bad, it just doesn't have the bite that a fresh pepper has. Jalapeño's with the seeds removed is the perfect mild bit for me but for those who like spice keep the seeds in.


Here is a look at the finished product. (The baked version.)

And here is the cold version. I just tried this for the first time. It's was good and got a lot of good reviews but I think the hot fondue version is a bigger hit.