Want to enjoy the best that Dallas restaurants have to offer without ever leaving your home? Our new recurring feature, Dish Pirate, will help you bring the city’s robust dining scene to your kitchen.
Zaytinya, located in Frisco, serves a full menu of traditional Greek and Lebanese food. As a lover of dips and spreads, the mere fact that they offer six different dip appetizers earns them a spot as one of my favorites. One of those six options is Zaytinya’s own version of Htipiti, a Greek red pepper and feta spread. They graciously shared the recipe with us and I can confidently say, you can do this.
The following is the full recipe without any adjustments. You can easily roast the red peppers in the oven, as the recipe states, or you can buy jarred roasted red peppers near the pickled items at most grocery stores. The taste should be similar, just make sure to drain any juice or oils before incorporating into the dip. Traditional Htipiti is pounded until smooth but Zaytinya keeps theirs “rustic” making it easier to recreate at home.
Dish Pirate: Zaytinya’s Htipiti
Recipe serves 6-8
Ingredients:
4 red bell peppers
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 shallot. peeled
dash of pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme, stems removed
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Toss whole peppers in canola oil, then place peppers directly on oven rack. Bake approx 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. Remove from oven when done and set aside to cool.
3. Mince garlic and shallots and place in small mixing bowl.
4. Add oil, vinegar, pepper and salt to mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.
5. Now, prepare the roasted peppers. Peel skin from outside of pepper. Discard skin, stems and seeds. Chop peppers into small pieces and place in medium sized mixing bowl. If using jarred peppers, skip the peeling and head straight to chopping.
6. Whisk dressing mixture and pour over peppers.
7. Sprinkle in fresh thyme and feta and stir together.
8. Chill for 15 minutes.
This dip can be served with warm pita or crispy pita chips. Or fresh veggies, if you’d like a low carb option.
