Roast Garlic and Butter Bean Dip

There is nothing quite like pulling something out of the freezer and looking like you’ve gone to a lot of trouble when you really haven’t. This dip is one of my favourites for exactly that reason. It takes one tin of butter beans, a head of garlic and about five minutes of actual work, and a batch of it will sit happily in the freezer for a couple of months waiting for people to turn up.

Roasting the garlic is the bit that makes it. A whole head goes into the oven wrapped in foil and comes out forty minutes later completely transformed. The cloves turn soft and sweet and lose all of that raw bite, so you can use the lot without it being overwhelming. You just squeeze them straight out of their skins into the blender.

Butter beans make a softer, creamier dip than chickpeas do. They break down into something much silkier, which I prefer, although you’ll want to keep a little of the liquid from the tin back to loosen it. Add it a spoonful at a time until you get the consistency you’re after, because it’s far easier to thin it down than to thicken it back up.

Serve it with warm flatbreads, pitta or a pile of raw vegetables for dunking. It keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days and freezes well, so I usually double the recipe and put half away. If you’re after another dip along these lines, my carrot hummus is the one I make most often.