Ottolenghi’s Charred Scallion Dip
The bunch of scallions in this week’s veg box are possibly the largest I’ve ever seen! And this is my favourite way to eat huge amounts of scallions in a simple and delicious recipe. It’s adapted from an ingenious Ottolenghi recipe (from his book Nopi, if I remember correctly) which involves dolloping this scallion dip over kale stir-fried with garlic and chilli. I thoroughly recommend that recipe too - but the slugs ate 119 out of 120 of our kale seedlings this year, so we’re still waiting for the second planting to catch up!
This recipe is great as a topping on freshly made brown brown, but can also be used as a dip for vegetable crudites or crisps. Or even as a pasta sauce!
Makes loads, one big bowl!
1 bulb garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Large bunch of scallions (aka spring onions)
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
280g cream cheese
200g sour cream
Salt and black pepper
First, cook the garlic. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Slice the top quarter off the head of garlic, horizontally (so the top is cut of each clove of garlic).
Place the garlic bulb in the middle of a square of tin foil with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.
Wrap up in the foil and place on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes until soft.
Next char the scallions. Trim any yellowing leaves off the scallions and half or quarter, lengthwise, if they are large. Place them in a large baking tray and drizzle with sunflower oil, a little salt and some black pepper.
Cook under the grill on the highest heat, until black and burnt all over. It’s a scary thing to do. But I promise, you can really get them black and they are still delicious.
Chop the burnt scallions finely once they are cool.
Squeeze out the garlic puree from each of the cloves into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the chopped scallion, the cream cheese, sour cream and some salt and mix well. Add more seasoning to taste.
Serve on slices of Ballymaloe brown bread with a sprinkle of calendula petals.
