I'm a bit obsessed with condiments generally, but this recipe in particular. It's a major part of the reason why I was able to provide a soon-to-be-married friend with a frankly ridiculous number of empty jars (over 60!) when she sent out a plea for candle holders. I'm not sure who was more shocked at the hoarding of empty jars to be honest - me or her....
Anyway, jars and hoarding tendencies aside, this dip is great for adding to salads or for dipping crisps, crackers, and crudites into. It's also horribly addictive, and inspired by a sundried tomato dip I once had in Italy a very long time ago. I couldn't get it out of my head so recreated it here.
What's the A to V?
Sundried tomatoes are a good, dense source of fibre, vitamin C, potassium and iron - plus the sunflower oil they usually come with is an excellent source of vitamin E.
Ingredients (you should end up with 1-2 jars of the dip):
1 x 280 g jar of sundried tomatoes, including the oil
150 g of cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 olives,black or green
1 tsp of capers
1 tbsp of dried oregano
1 to 2 tsps of cayenne pepper depending on your spice tolerance levels....
1 generous handful of basil
1 generous handful of parsley, spinach, or coriander
Optional - I sometimes add a semi-dried pepper to the mix which works nicely as the sweetness balances out the saltiness here rather well. You can find these in jars of 'marinated sun-dried peppers' in the same section of the supermarket (usually, anyway) where you'll also find the sundried tomatoes.
Method
This really couldn't be much easier.
Place all your ingredients into the blender, and blend for 30 seconds.
Taste, and season if needed. I often add in a bit more cayenne pepper, and another handful of herbs, at this stage if I think it needs it. A word to the wise: it's always best to start off with safe amounts of cayenne pepper, and then up it at this stage if necessary, as too much does have the propensity to knock one's socks off.
Blend again for another 20-30 seconds until you have a smooth-ish paste, and refrigerate. It'll last for a good fortnight or so - assuming you don't eat it in one go that is!