The Irresistible Triple Threat Dip!

I was driving the car one evening with Mr NQN in the passenger seat and Miss America in the back seat. Miss America asked me how my driving was going and I answered "swimmingly thank you!" And just at that moment, I mounted a curb doing a left turn and the car made this kerthunk sound.

I was hoping that my passengers hadn't noticed it but of course they did.

"Kerb," Mr NQN said trying to stifle much laughter.

Having ascertained that I hadn't hit anyone, I continued on to Miss America. "And that's what you call an advanced manoeuvre where you get extra points for smoothly mounting the kerb" I said smiling, game show hostess style.

"I don't drive but I'm pretty sure it's not" Miss America said skeptically.

Dodgy driving aside Dear Reader, please allow me to offer you something much less complicated than driving. Something that won't surprise you with out of the blue turns or stop signs. Allow me to introduce you to one of the most delicious dips I've ever made or eaten: the Triple Threat Dip.

It came to me after I mixed a pesto with a hummus on a cracker. The fragrant basil and salty parmesan hit me first and then the creamy hummus did afterwards. I kept thinking that it's really no surprise that these two unusual bedfellows would be good. But something was missing. It was spice and tomato. I've been on a mad tomato kick this month. I think I'm feeling the end of tomato season and have been drinking tomato soup, making tomato confit and tomato tarte tatins. So to the basil pesto and hummus I added a spicy tomato pesto and tasted it and it seemed that the sun dried tomato dip was just what it needed. And even though the ingredients list is long, a lot of the ingredients are repeated so there isn't an inordinate amount of shopping necessary and I had it all made in less than 30 minutes. It is a dip that comes with a bit of a warning though, it's very hard to stop eating it. You could probably even hop a kerb while eating this and nobody would notice ;)

So tell me Dear Reader, be honest, how would you rate yourself as a driver? Do you prefer being the driver or the passenger in a car?

The Triple Threat Dip

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

For hummus

• 1x 400g tin chickpeas

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 tablespoon tahini

• 4 tablespoons olive oil  (mild flavoured)

• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

• salt and pepper to taste

For basil pesto

• 1 bunch basil

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 cup parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup roasted walnuts or pine nuts

• 1/4 cup olive oil  (mild flavoured)

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• salt and pepper to taste

For sun dried tomato pesto

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 150g/5 ozs sun dried tomatoes, drained

• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup roasted walnuts or pine nuts

• 1/2 cup olive oil (mild flavoured) or a little more if needed

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• chilli sauce to taste

• salt and pepper to taste

Tip: roast the walnuts for the basil and sun dried pestos first. To toast them, bake them in a preheated 180C/350F oven for 10 minutes spread out on a baking tray. Cool.

You will also need a food processor or blender-I used a small chopper/food processor for these.

Step 1 - Drain and rinse the chickpeas well. Place the garlic cloves in the processor and whiz until broken up. Add the chickpeas, tahini, olives oil and lemon juice and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in the serving dish.

Step 2 - You don't need to rinse or clean out the processor-I use of those really handy silicon spatulas that get everything out but if you don't have one, by all means, wipe it clean. Wash the basil and gently shake dry. Place the garlic cloves in the processor and whiz until broken up. Add the basil, parmesan cheese, nuts, oil and lemon juice and process until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in the serving dish on top of the hummus.

Step 3 - Again, I don't bother washing between these two pestos as long as you've done a good job scraping the bowl clean with the spatula.  Place the garlic cloves in the processor and whiz until broken up. Add the sun dried tomato, parmesan cheese, nuts, olive oil and lemon juice and process until smooth. Add chilli sauce to taste-I used an adobo chilli sauce from a tin of chipotle chilies. If you need more oil, you can add it to give it a less stiff consistency. Place on top of the basil pesto to create this three tiered dip.