Move over hummus…there’s a new dip in town!!

I think by now, hummus has been in the “mainstream” long enough that everyone has tried it and most people even like it! I am one of those people who really, really likes it. In fact, I could eat it with a spoon…no cracker or chip necessary! Some years ago, while we were staying in Santorini at the Petros Pension, Petros’ wife Eugenia brought us a bottle of homemade Nectari wine and a bowl of her fresh-baked pita bread and yellow split-pea dip which we had never had before. We love when this happens because just when you think you know what all Greek food is cause you were raised in a Greek family…Surprise!!! Here is something your family never had and maybe didn’t even know about!! We all loved it right away and have been making it ever since. I’ve never seen it packaged in any local store so I doubt you can buy it, but it is very easy to make! You can find the recipe on page 96 of our wonderful book, A Greek Journey With Fork and Pen. You don’t have our book yet (horrors)? No worries…you can click on the picture of the book right here and order it! I’ll give you a break right now, though, and put the recipe here!

YELLOW SPLIT-PEA DIP (FAVA) Makes about 3 cups/6-8 servings

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil                                        Black pepper to taste
1 large onion, finely chopped                                  1/4 c lemon juice
4 c water                                                                           1 T capers for garnish
2 c dried yellow split peas                                        4 green onions for garnish
3 bay leaves                                                                    1 t dried Greek oregano
1 T salt

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a saucepan and soften the finely chopped onion in it. Add the water and bring to a boil; then add the split peas and bay leaves. Boil gently,removing any scum as it appears. When the water has been fully absorbed the peas will be mushy. Season with salt and pepper, remove bay leaves and quickly process with a hand-held blender or wooden spoon. Leave this puree in a cool place to set, then refrigerate. Before serving, stir in the lemon juice and remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Transfer to a bowl, garnish with capers, chopped green onions and sprinkle with oregano. Serve with pita bread.

As you can see in the picture, we often serve it as part of an appetizer plate with Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, feta cheese and pita bread. This photo was taken by Nick Koon of the OC Register and part of a wonderful article that Cathy Thomas of The OC Register wrote on us and our book in the April 24th food section of the newspaper. We were thrilled with the lovely things she had to say and honored that an award-winning food journalist chose our book to write about! Our sincere thanks go out to Cathy and Nick!

As always, I hope you are adventurous enough to try these easy recipes. Just think, this may become YOUR signature dish! Kali orexi!

See you next time!

Tagged as: appetizers, dip, hummus, Santorini, split-peas