White beans (or cannellini beans) are one of the easiest things to puree into a dip. They're creamy and mild, so they marry well with a lot of different flavors. We've reviewed Mark Bittman's Rosemary Lemon White Bean Dip, and now we're weighing in on a spread from Melissa Clark of the New York Times. It's full of curly garlic scapes, which are in season.
We have one pretty major change, though...
Clark admits that, although garlic scapes have a milder flavor than raw garlic cloves, she worried the flavor of the dip would be too strong. She writes:
It had a velvety texture that wrapped itself around an assertive, racy wallop so intense that I worried I'd scare even my garlic-loving parents out of the house. Instead, my guests closed in on the bowl like house cats to cream cheese.
Well, we weren't scared out of the house, and we did enjoy the dip, but we were tasting garlic all night (the lingering flavor woke us up — no joke) and into the next day. Yee-haw, it was strong. Not exactly a polite cocktail party dip, in our opinion.
So, we scooped the dip back into the food processor, added another can of white beans (doubling the original amount) and streamed in extra olive oil to get it creamy and blended. It needed another pinch of salt, but overall we were happy with the results. Still velvety, still flecked with green, still very very garlicky, but not so abrasive.
If you get garlic scapes in your CSA or see them at the greenmarket, and you love garlic, give this a try. It does have a beautifully fresh, green, garlic flavor. Just consider yourself warned.
Read Clark's full article, with recipes: A Garlic Festival Without a Single Clove
Related: Entertaining Tip: Easy Food Processor Dips
(Image: Elizabeth Passarella)
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yum. bring on the garlic.
view ronzo's profile
For those who don't have access to scapes, try planting a clove of garlic in a small pot on a windowsill. It will quickly shoot up long green leaves that can be chopped up and used as with other herbs.
view angorian's profile
I couldn't agree more - I made the original recipe from the NYTimes article, and it woke me up through the night too, and I swear I oozed garlic all the next day.
Doubling the beans is a great idea if you want more volume, otherwise, I'd just limit myself to 1 scape (maybe 2) and a single can.
view jkcunns's profile
Try blanching the scapes first - it mellows the garlic bite. I just tried making garlic scape pesto, and on the advice of others who've done it before, I blanched them in boiling water for just shy of a minute, then shocked them in ice water and drained before putting them in the food processor. You'll get the sweetness of garlic without the bite, and you won't be tasting it for the next few days! Can't wait to try this recipe.
view Capricorn Pig's profile
This sounds great! Can't wait to try it with my scapes! I was so happy to see them at the farmer's market this year and know what they were thanks to the Kitchn!
view bobcatsteph3's profile
Ha! This was exactly what I did with last week's scapes, and the dip was indeed sharp but good. I didn't have an extra can of beans, and have managed to eat most of the dip already, so I'm not going to tweak it. But it's a lovely light green dip.
Also, I added a half cup of pureed cauliflower, idea from Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. The garlic completely hid any trace of it, and it just made for a lighter puree. Kids wouldn't touch the dip anyway, but I figure I'm getting extra vitamin c.
view Girl Detective's profile
Wow, I'm surprised to see this. I made it as written and I thought it was perfect - that intense garlicky flavor is so addictive. And the green color is gorgeous; I'm used to the bland coloring of homemade hummus.
view lyrabella's profile