White bean dip with sun-dried tomato and roasted garlic, and two bonus tapenades

White bean dip + olive tapenade + sun-dried tomato tapenade = the perfect bringable dip trio. Add some homemade crostini with olive oil and pecorino romano and you've got yourself one classy dish.

Every Christmas Eve, my family throws a giant party with all of the aunts, uncles and cousins. Everyone brings an appetizer or dessert and we munch and mingle the night away. In the past we’ve brought our butternut squash sage pizza, chicken wings, and a variety of dips and one-bite appetizers.

One thing I always try to bring is something I know Owen can eat, since he’s got lots of food allergies. And in fine five-year-old form, he’ll refuse to eat anything at a party that can’t be scooped up easily, grabbed and eaten on the run. If there’s a fork involved, all bets are off.

A few weeks ago, I was playing with a white bean dip recipe which we ended up using inside quesadillas. Yesterday, I stepped it up a bit and perfected it and that’s what I’m bringing tonight, along with these recipes for Alton Brown’s olive tapenade and sun-dried tomato tapenade (can’t stop eating this one … hope it makes it to the party!). They go so well together and when it’s a bigger gathering, I feel cheesy just bringing a little bowl of dip, so classing it up and presenting it as a “dip trio” made me feel better about myself.

White Bean Dip with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic

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Ingredients:

15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 large cloves of garlic (or more!)
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on how lemony you like it
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted in hot water, then drained
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

To roast the garlic: Cut the tops of the garlic cloves off, but leave them in their skins. Drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap loosely in foil. Cook at 400 degrees convection roast (or 425 normal) for about 30 minutes.

Puree beans and sun dried tomatoes until smooth, adding lemon juice and olive oil until smooth and of desired consistency. Adjust, then add the garlic and puree again.

Add all other ingredients and pulse until just blended. If you blend too long, the basil will become pureed and make the dip an ugly color, so please pulse. Serve with baguette rounds drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated cheese (we used pecorino romano) and baked at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes. Rice crackers and pita chips are also perfect with these three dips.