This white bean dip with roasted cranberry compote makes a delicious holiday appetizer. Serve it with crackers as part of your party spread. It will be a hit with your guests!
The tart cranberry compote nicely balances the creamy, garlicky bean dip.
The recipe makes about 2 cups of dip.
Tip
- Use only the soft stems of rosemary, so that you can puree them into the compote. Pick young stems or just the soft ends of older stems. Alternatively, you can remove the leaves from the stems and just use a small amount of leaves.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients to make white bean dip with roasted cranberry compote.
Cranberry Compote Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3 or 4 soft ends of fresh rosemary stems
White Bean Dip Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, for topping
- 3 medium to large garlic cloves in skin
- 1 can cannellini beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus more as needed
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste
- Kosher salt, to taste
Directions
Make Cranberry Compote and Roast the Garlic
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, toss the cranberries with the olive oil. Add the brown sugar and toss everything until the cranberries are coated with the sugar. Spread the cranberry mixture out on a medium size baking sheet. Tuck the rosemary stems under the berries to keep them from drying out.
Roast the cranberries on a rack in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, stirring them once about halfway through (try to keep the rosemary under the berries). You want the cranberries to be soft. It’s fine if they start to burst.
While the cranberries roast, put the garlic cloves in a small baking pan and roast them in the oven until they are soft (anywhere from 15 – 30 minutes). When you stir the cranberries, carefully check the garlic by squeezing it. If the cloves are soft, take them out of the oven and let them cool.
Remove the cranberries from the oven and cool them a little.
Put the cranberries and rosemary in a food processor bowl or a blender and process them until they are almost smooth. It’s fine if there are small pieces. Remove the compote from the blender and set it aside.
Toast Pine Nuts
Put the pine nuts in a small dry skillet and cook them over a medium-low heat, shaking the skillet to lightly toss them, watching them constantly to prevent burning. Cook them for 3 – 5 minutes until golden brown. Move them to a small plate immediately, so they don’t continue to cook on the hot pan.
Make the Bean Dip
Peel the cooled garlic cloves and remove the tough stem end if needed.
Drain the beans and add them to a food processor bowl or a blender. Add the olive oil, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Process until smooth. Add a little pepper and salt and process. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and lemon juice. The bean dip will be creamy and slightly runny (not a firm paste). The more lemon you add, the wetter the dip will be.
To serve the dip, spoon it into a small bowl. Add some of the cranberry dip to the center and sprinkle the pine nuts around the edge of the bean dip. Serve with pita crackers or another small cracker for dipping. Raw vegetables, such as carrots and cucumbers, would also be great with the dip. Provide a spoon for people to scoop a little cranberry topping with the dip. Replenish the cranberry compote as needed.
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