Roast Red Pepper and Goats Cheese Dip

When it comes to dips I tend to be a one track pony.

This dip is one I roll out regularly (that and my spinach and smoked feta dip). It's delicious, and teamed with some easy pita chips, it's always been a crowd pleaser.  There are a few steps to the dip, but if you're a girly-swot like me in the kitchen, you're bound to have a bag of frozen roasted peppers lurking in the freezer :) seriously though...I buy them when they're cheap, roast them off, peel them and pop them into a large plastic bag, flat in the freezer. This means the peppers are free flow and you can grab a handful out at a time. Great for salads, pastas or in this case...Dip. Alternatively keep a jar of store bought roast peppers in the cupboard. The goats cheese adds a lovely tartness to the dip, but on more than one occasion I've forgotten to put it in and the dip still turns out well, just up the anti a bit on the lemon juice to offset the sweetness of the peppers and the cream cheese.

Roast Red Pepper and Goats Cheese Dip

• 2 large or 3 medium red bell peppers (capsicum) - this time I used one red and one yellow.
• 200 grams cream cheese
• 100 grams sour cream
• 60 grams crumbled goats cheese
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• pinch white pepper
• pinch salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Pita or Arabic Bread
• Oil spray
• your favourite seasoning - I like garlic salt, or italian blend herb seasoning mixed with sea salt

Method

Roast the peppers

Cut the peppers into quarters, removing the seeds and membrane, pop skin side up in a roasting pan under the grill and cook until starting to blacken. Put into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool. Once cool, peel the skin off the peppers and discard the skins.

Making the dip

1. Put the red peppers, lemon juice and garlic into a food processor or blender and blitz until it's as smooth as you can get it.
2. Add the cream cheese, goats cheese and sour cream and blend until combined. Season with the salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if required.

Making the Pita Chips

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius (400 degrees fahrenheit)
2. Arabic bread has two layers, cut around the outside of the bread and peel the two layers apart.
3. Spray each piece with oil spray and sprinkle with your favourite herbs and salt, or your favourite pre-mixed seasoning.
4. Cut into triangles and bake for 3 to 4 minutes in the middle of the oven until brown and crisp. Be careful when baking, the difference between crisp and golden and in the bin black is a matter of seconds.

The pita chips will keep for 5 days in a sealed container, if they're a bit soft when you get them out, just pop them in a hot oven for 30 seconds to crisp up again. The dip will keep in the fridge for 3 days, unfortunately unlike most things I make, it isn't freezable, so you'll just have to scoff it all!