Roasted Tomato and Feta Dip: The Perfect Holiday Dip

The perfect holiday dip!

As the holidays approach I have started making a plan. My goal always, but especially around the holidays is to keep things simple and nourish us body and soul. Affordability is also key. This dip comes together really quickly so it won’t keep you in the kitchen long and you could buy everything you need for less than $10. If you’re like us, your grocery bill begins to inflate during the months of November and December because of all the holiday gatherings. I tend to be a one trick pony around the holidays. I pick one side dish and that’s what I take to everything. This will likely be the one this year.

I always enjoy a quick and LIGHT dish to take to various gatherings. Sure, everyone loves all the rich foods the holiday season, including myself, but I usually try to take some veggies to our family gatherings. My family, as well as my in-laws are game people. That means we tend to stay up late playing games–and this is the perfect dip for a holiday game night. We typically host at least one game night between Christmas and New Years. By then, everyone is looking for some actual sustenance not just sugar. This dip, especially when paired with fresh vegetables, really does the trick.

One of our favorite local restaurants has a “Feisty Feta Dip” as an appetizer and its so good. I have made a copycat recipe of it several times. This roasted tomato and feta dip came about because I went to make the Feisty Feta and realized I did not have all of the ingredients. We are into using what we have, so I just gave it a shot and it ended up being a summer favorite.

The recipe can be summed up by saying: roast some tomatoes in the oven, smash them up with some feta, add salt and spices to taste.

Although it is pretty much that simple I will go into a bit more detail, but Im confident anyone can make this.

• Feta (I used 16 oz)
• 2 pints of tomatoes (I usually use cherry or grape tomatoes)
• basil
• garlic
• salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
3. Toss the tomatoes in a bit of olive oil and basil and garlic prior to roasting them.
4. If you want to roast some cloves of garlic to mix in, by all means. Toss those on the baking sheet as well.
5. Roast for about 12 minutes. Everyone’s oven is different…I leave them in until they just begin to brown and caramelize.
6. While the tomatoes are roasting, break up your feta in a bowl. If you’re not using blocks, just add the feta to a bowl.
7. Once the tomatoes are cooked to your liking, add them into your bowl of feta and stir it all up.
8. Taste test, add more garlic, basil or salt as needed.
   If it’s a little dry, add some olive oil or add some juices from the tomatoes left on your pan.
9. Serve with vegetables, crackers, pita chips…pretty much anything!

Notes

1. I salt the tomatoes AFTER I roast them. You could do it either way but in my opinion the tomatoes get mushy if salted prior to being roast.
2. I like yo use dried basil to toss with the tomatoes while they roast and I enjoy adding fresh basil into the final dip. Use what you have but fresh basil is the bomb.

Let me know if you try it in the comments!