Description
This whipped feta dip with roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic can be served with crispbreads, crackers, sourdough bread, or whatever low-carb or gluten-free alternative you have. It’s an amazing appetizer full of flavours that will have everyone talking! Great for the holidays, as part of a mezze platter or as a dinner party starter.
Ingredients
For roasted tomatoes & garlic
350–400 g / 13 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
15 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole (choose medium cloves)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon salt
For whipped feta
200–225 g / 8 oz block feta cheese (smooth kid kind like Danish feta)
3/4 cup plain sour cream or Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 tbsp water (if using sour cream as it’s thicker than yoghurt)
To garnish
Chilli flakes
Chopped mint (real nice!)
Instructions
Make Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic
- Preheat oven. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 355 F.
- Prepare tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in halves and peel the garlic but leave whole. Place both on a flat baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle evenly with cumin seeds, cinnamon and salt.
- Use your hands to toss everything together and spread on the tray. I like to turn all of the tomatoes facing up so that the juices don’t escape too much.
- Roast tomatoes. Pop in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, no need to turn or stir anything but you might want to turn the baking tray around if your oven has hidden hot spots.
- Once ready, remove the tray and let it cool down slightly. Use a spatula to scrape off the tomatoes and garlic, and all the yummy juices, into a bowl and set aside.
Make whipped feta
- Set up the blender. You will need either of the following to whip the feta: a food processor, a high-speed blender, an electric whisk or a stick blender, which I used.
- Get ingredients ready. Break feta into chunks and add to a bowl together with sour cream or Greek yoghurt. If using Greek yoghurt, the dip will be tangier; if sour cream, it will be more creamy, rich and a little less tangy. Your choice! I like sour cream here. Drizzle olive oil and add a splash of water (about 2 tbsp) if using sour cream.
- Whip. Blend until whipped, smooth texture. Stop and start, scraping the sides along the way. If it feels too thick and your blending tool is struggling, add another splash of water.
Notes
Recipe Tip: Some feta cheese is quite crumbly, so even after lots of blending and processing, it might still have a grainy texture. You can leave it like that, or you can pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to work out most of those tiny feta bits and improve the texture. This will give you luxuriously smooth, velvety whipped feta.
If using Greek yoghurt, the dip will be tangier; if sour cream, it will be more creamy, rich and a little less tangy. Your choice! I like sour cream here. Drizzle olive oil and add a splash of water (about 2 tbsp) if using sour cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: A few tablespoons of dip with tomatoes & garlic
- Calories: 193
- Sugar: 3.1 g
- Sodium: 553.3 mg
- Fat: 17.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 37.2 mg
Keywords: Feta Recipes, Cherry Tomatoes, Appetizers, Finger Food, Starter, Holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mediterranean Recipes