Roasted Garlic

The first time I tried this dip was at an Italian Restaurant.  They served a complimentary bread basket with dips, and among the dips there was a whole roasted garlic.  You would just pop out a roasted clove and mash it into the bread.  Tasted like heaven! 

You can eat the caramelized roasted garlic cloves directly out of the heads, add it to mashed potato, pastas, mash them up and add to toast or mix them with sour cream for a great dip.  I mainly roast garlic when I am cooking up my homemade marinara sauce.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

One or more whole heads of garlic

Olive oil

Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Open a squared piece of aluminum foil, big enough to have the garlic head/s in it.  Cut 0.5cm of the top part of the head.  Please it on the aluminum foil and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on it.  Fold to close the foil well.  Bake for 45min. Open to cool a little and it is ready to be used.!

ENJOY!

Pizza Dip

Looking for a great appetizer recipe? or any good snack idea for visitors? this is a great one!  This pizza dip is creamy, addictive and delicious. It comes together very quickly, and it just tastes amazingly good. 

In this recipe you can feel free to use any pizza topping in it.  Yes, you can! - here I had in my fridge green pepper, beef salami, and olives, and the rest of the ingredients is all cheesy!

 

It tasted just like Pizza, but with a creamy taste.  I served it with toasted baguette slices, although it would also be great with pizza dough strips or pita chips.  Looking for a dip for your next party? try this! 

Pizza Dip

Ingredients
 
300 grams of cream cheese (softened)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried basil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pizza sauce
2 tablespoons green bell pepper (chopped)
Beef Salami (chopped or sliced) - as much as you like
Black olives (sliced) - as much as you like


Method

In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese with oregano, parsley, and basil.

Spread the mixture onto the bottom of a any glass pie plate (or shallow oven-safe/microwave-safe dish). Sprinkle ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and ½ cup of the parmesan cheese on top of the cream cheese mixture. Spread the pizza sauce over the top of the cheeses. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of parmesan and ½ cup of mozzarella cheese over the top of the sauce.  Top with pepperoni, green pepper, and black olives.


Cover and microwave for 5 minutes. You can also place into the oven and bake at 175 °C for 15-20 minutes. 

Serve with toasted baguette slices, pita chips, or tortilla chips!

ENJOY!