White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip and Crackers

This is an easy bean dip that could be served with baked pita chips (slice open pita into two flat disks, and then into wedges. Brush both sides of chips with olive oil and sprinkle with salt or other desired spices. Bake in 425 oven until golden brown), veggies, or home-baked crackers.

I have tried to make a few cracker recipes, but haven't been satisfied with the results, until I tried these Olive Oil Crackers. The dough was a little tough to roll out, but then my smart cells kicked in and I ended up using a pasta roller to roll the dough thin enough. My pasta roller goes from 1 to 7 for thickness. I found 7 to be too thin for the crackers; 6 was perfect.

White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip
from smittenkitchen.com

1 15-ounce can of white cannelini or navy beans
1 small jar roasted red peppers, or about 1 cup, drained
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice from half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth.

Serve with baked pita chips.

Olive Oil Crackers
from racheleats.wordpress.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for brushing pan/crackers
coarse sea salt

Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in water and olive oil. Using your hands bring the ingredients together into a dough and knead it until it is smooth. Wrap the dough in a tea towel and let it rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

Set the oven to 350 and line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.

Lightly dust your work surface and hands with flour. Pull off a walnut sized lump of dough and roll it into little sausage between your palms, then dusting with more flour as you work, roll the dough into a long, very thin, misshapen tongue on the floured board before laying it onto the lined baking tray.

Brush each length of dough generously with olive oil and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt like Maldon.

Put the tray in the preheated oven for 6 – 8 minutes. You need to keep an sharp eye on the timer and the crackers as they cook. They will, crisp, blister, curl at the edges and go very a pale golden colour (deep golden brown is too much). When they are ready, pull the tray from the oven and slide the crackers onto a wire rack. Cook the next batch.

The crackers will keep in a tin for a couple of days but I think they are best eaten still warm and brushed with more olive oil.