Shelly's Recipe

7 LAYER DIP - ITALIAN STYLE for Crostini

Category: Dips - Cold

2 large, 400g cans of cannellini beans, drained well
2 large tomatoes
1 can whole or sliced black olives
Fresh basil pesto
Pine nuts
Italian cheese: crescenza/stracchino, ricotta or shredded parmigiano reggiano
Top layer: Roasted or grilled eggplant, artichokes, onions, mushrooms

Drain the cannellini beans very well. Pulse them a few times in a food processor with some garlic salt and a little olive oil (1 Tablespoon for every can you use), but you want to keep them pretty chunky and dry. Spread the beans on the bottom of your glass serving dish. Put it in the fridge to chill while preparing the other layers.

Take two large tomatoes, and cut them in half, horizontally. Remove all the seeds, and chop/dice into small chunks. Let the tomatoes dry sufficiently, resting them on a paper towel if necessary.

Prepare your pesto layer. Gently spread the pesto on the cannellini bean layer and refrigerate.

Roughly chop the olives and your Wildcard layer Add your cheese layer. I used a crescenza which is a creamy, almost cream cheese-like consistency and it added a little tang to the mixture. If you’d prefer, use some ricotta or large shavings of parmigiano reggiano instead.

Add the tomatoes, olives and pine nuts, and garnish with some fresh basil if desired. Chill the entire mixture for 30 minutes or more before serving. Serve with pieces of toasted French bread.

Note: I recommend laying the bottom three layers as spread-out as possible so that you can chill the mixture before adding new layers.