A Trio of Italian Dips
A trio of Italian dips
When I’m serving dips I like to serve them in threes, so that there’s a range of colours, flavours, textures and fragrances on offer. My favourites tend to be inspired by Middle Eastern or Italian flavours, both influences focusing on simple, quality ingredients and well-balanced seasonings: think velvety hummus with tahini and lemon, smoky baba ghanoush, or a garlicky cannellini bean dip drizzled with golden olive oil. They’re all about letting a handful of fresh, natural ingredients shine, creating dips that feel both nourishing and indulgent.
My Italian style dips are loaded with all that’s good about sun-filled Mediterranean food, proving that plant-based eating is far from dull. Each ingredient brings its own character: roasted peppers add sweetness with a charred edge, olives bring a deep, briny punch and lemons pull it all into focus with sharp bursts of light. Garlic adds earthy warmth, capers bring salty bursts of intensity, and sundried tomatoes offer a concentrated savoury-sweetness. Together, they create dips that are bold, balanced, and ridiculously moreish. Unlike so many of the shop bought varieties which are highly processed and packed with unhealthy fats and additives, the ingredients in these Italian style dips bring a whole host of health promoting properties to the table too.
Here are the recipes you need to bring a little of that plant-based goodness to your own table.
Tuscan white bean dip
Tuscan white bean dip (serves 4):
1 x 400g tin cannellini beans drained and rinsed
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 large clove of garlic
50ml olive oil
½ tsp seasalt
To make: blitz everything together in a food processor until velvety smooth.
Shown topped with toasted pine nuts, a drizzle of olive oil and some micro amaranth
Green olive tapenade
Green olive tapenade (serves 4):
125g pitted, drained green olives
20g drained capers
1 large clove of garlic
Juice of 1 large lemon
50ml olive oil
30g flatleaf parsley (stems removed)
To make: blitz everything together in a food processor until finely minced (you want to keep some texture and bite in this one)
Shown topped with edible flowers
Romesco dip