3 Grain Olive Oil and Herb Crackers with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip

I feel like a teenager wanting to write a ‘Dear Diary’ entry – ‘Dear Blog, I’m sorry I have been away for so long. I have missed you.’ This has been the season of festivals and birthdays. This should mean that I cook up a variety of new things. But folks, all that people seem to want to eat are mini cocoa fudge cupcakes with a chocolate ganache frosting. So these are what I have been making over and over again all this last month.

Now back to the 3 grain olive oil and herb crackers with a roasted red bell pepper dip. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Serve this up when you want something gourmet – ish but easy to make. This dish should not take more than ½ hour – 45 mins really, to put together from scratch

I cannot pin point what my favorite part of the dish is. Are they the wonderfully aromatic and crisp crackers? Or the roasted pepper blended together with cream cheese and balsamic vinegar? Or simply the underlying flavor of garlic in both? What do you think?

I used regular flour, wholewheat flour as well as semolina to make the crackers (much like the crackers I used for the tzatziki). I realized that merely adding some semolina to the dough makes it so much more malleable than just plain whole-wheat or flour dough. I am quite shoddy at rolling out dough but the semolina made the job so much easier. Also, please use olive oil instead of butter. It’s definitely healthier. Add in any herb you fancy.

Olive Oil Crackers with a Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip

Minimally adapted from Passionate about Baking

Ingredients:

For the crackers:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup wholewheat flour

1/3 cup semolina

3 – 4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp mixed herbs

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

For the dip:

3 roasted bell peppers

3 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp hung yogurt

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

A dash of white wine vinegar

2 – 3 cloves of garlic

A pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Crackers:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

2.Mix the 3 flours together along with the garlic, herbs and salt.

3. Add the olive oil and rub it in to form a bread crumb like texture.

4. Add the water and form a dough. Use more water if required. Knead for 2 minutes.

5. Roll out the dough ¼ th inch thick.

6. Cut into strips with a pastry cutter, pizza wheel or knife. Transfer to a baking tray with the help of a spatula.

7. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until crisp and lightly brown.

Dip:

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor. Serve cold. It tastes even better the next day.