This soya bean pesto dip makes great party food or a simple, quick and easy snack. Use strips of ciabatta loaf to make your own garlic breadsticks for dipping
Ingredients
- For the dip
- :
- 125g (4oz) frozen soya (edamame) beans
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- About 15g (½oz) basil leaves
- 45g (1½oz) Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200ml (7fl oz) thick plain yogurt
- For the garlic breadsticks
- :
- 1 small ciabatta loaf
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small bunch cherry tomatoes on the vine, to serve
Method
To make the breadsticks: Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6 or 200°C. Cut the ciabatta loaf into 6 slices, lengthways, then cut each of these strips into 2-3 pieces to make breadsticks. Put on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and slices of garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 mins until golden.
To make the dip: Add the soya beans and garlic clove to a pan of boiling, salted water. Bring back to the boil, and simmer for 5 mins, until the beans are just tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Put the beans and the garlic into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the basil leaves, Parmesan and oil and whizz again to combine. Spoon in the yogurt and pulse for just a few seconds. Serve the dip with the breadsticks, warm or cold, and cherry tomatoes.
Top tip for making Soya bean pesto dip
We used a thick plain yogurt called Twekklo Farmhouse — it has a similar consistency to Greek yogurt with a lovely creamy flavour and only 4% fat.
