GRILLED RED CAPSICUM & MARROW DIP + A Television Appearance

Grilled Red Capsicum Marrow Dip

The basis of this recipe comes from my Nana's Red Capsicum and Cashew Dip featured in her recipe book - Memories from my Kitchen - hey I'm not the only cookbook author in the family! I have added marrow to use up some of our garden excess and been pleasantly surprised by the creaminess it adds to the dip. Give it whirl and let me know what you think...

Ingredients

• 2 red capsicum halved
• 1 medium marrow 1cm rounds or 3 x zucchini, sliced in half lengthways
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 2 handfuls of raw cashews OR sunflower seeds for nut-free
• 1-3 garlic cloves [optional]
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• squeeze of lemon
• chunk of goat feta [optional: for DF add an extra handful of cashews]

Instructions

• Preheat Grill 225C.
• Arrange the capsicum cut side down, and marrow slices on a baking tray and brush with olive oil. Season. Place the tray directly under the grill, leaving the door ajar for air circulation. Grill until the marrow is golden then flip and cook until both sides are golden. This will take about 7-8 minutes per side. Leave the capsicum cut side down for the skin to get nice and charred - this is going to add amazing flavour. Once grilled to perfection turn off the oven, close the door and leave to steam a little in the oven. This will make the capsicum skin easier to remove.
• Once warm remove the vegetables from the oven. Now you can easily peel away the thin capsicum skin and place in a food processor/ blender along with the marrow slices. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Add olive oil to loosen and check seasoning, adding extra balsamic/ lemon juice if needed. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Use as a dip for vegetable sticks and crackers and a spread on sandwiches.

I often find writing a recipe rather cumbersome. Before I started food writing my cooking style went something like this – start with a bit of this, chuck in a bit of that, maybe add a few of those, then have a taste, and add a little more of this and that until it tastes just right. I am sure many of you can relate. In truth my cooking style is still like this, however, now I use teaspoon and cup measurements and often write down recipes as a go. I have learned, from experience, this saves me a lot of time and headache trying to remember a recipe later on.

Today I am going to attempt to share a recipe in a more fluid format as this dip is super adaptable to your own tastes and preferences. For example, we love a bit of raw garlic added but I know others who avoid raw garlic as it gives them bad breath [true it does, but it is also soooo good for you]. Others may want to add some heat i.e. chilli, while we keep this minimal in our everyday food so as not to scare off the small people. BTW children seem to love this vege-laden dip, besides the addition of marrow it has an appealing orange colour and the red capsicum lends some lovely earthy sweetness – a sure-fire way to get children in on the action.

TV appearance – Whanau Living

A while back I wrote about flying up to Auckland to be filmed for a TV series called Whanau Living. Well… finally my 6 minute cooking slot aired last week on TVOne. In case you missed it you can watch it HERE. I am first up on the show cooking up a storm with presenter Stacey Morrison. The recipes can be found by following these links:

Zucchini & Ricotta Hot Cakes w/ Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

Blueberry Jelly w/ RAW Chocolate Mousse

Save

Save