Black Bean and four Cheese Dip

The best kind of dinners are often those centred around appetizer style dishes. They remind me of meals in the States while watching football games in sports bars or when out “just for a few drinks” and then you decide to opt for something small and end up ordering everys single starters on the menu. This dip was always one of my favourites and would come piping hot out the oven, served with a mountain of tortilla chips for dipping. Sadly, this dish rarely is gluten free friendly in restaurants and so I quickly came up with a safe version to prepare and eat at home when I didn’t fancy a big dinner or when having friends over. Be sure to serve with an ice cold gluten free beer or a good bottle of wine and you’ve got yourself a perfect night in!

Ingredients

2 x 400g Cans Black Beans (drained and rinsed)

2 x Garlic Cloves, peeled

½ x Lemon/Lime, squeezed

½ x Teaspoon Cumin

½ x Teaspoon Chilli Flakes

1 x Teaspoon Sea Salt

½ x Teaspoon Black Pepper

1 x Teaspoon Hot Sauce (I use Salsa Valentina)

200g x Cream Cheese

100g x Mild Cheddar Cheese

50g x Parmesan Cheese

100g x Shredded Mozzarella

100ml x Crème Fraiche

200g x Gluten Free Salted Tortilla Chips

For the garnish:

1 x green jalapeno, chopped

100g x cherry tomatoes, chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees fan)
2. In a large bowl, mix the black beans, cream cheese, crème fraiche, garlic cloves and lemon/lime juice with a hand blender until smooth (alternatively, this can be mixed in a food processor)
3. Add the cumin, chilli flakes, sea salt, black pepper, hot sauce, cheddar and parmesan and blend again until smooth
4. Transfer the mixture to an oven-proof dish. Top with the shredded mozzarella and bake the dip for 25 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and leave to rest for five minutes before garnishing with the chopped jalapeno and tomatoes.
6. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!