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| I want to share with you two of my favorite dips that I often make for parties. The one above is a Pineapple Cream Cheese Dip I found over a year ago from The Healthy Foodie blog, I would give you the link but it keeps saying potential virus so I’m not going to give it to you. Anyway, I just loved the presentation and it tastes really good too. Trust me you’ll get a lot of ooohs and aaahs when you bring this out! |
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| It’s so simple to make, Just get a fresh pineapple and cut off the top, now split the top in half so it will lay flat. You just need the top, save the pineapple for eating later. |
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| I’ve since tweaked the recipe a little, here’s my version.In a bowl add 2 blocks of softened cream cheese, reduced or full fat, whatever you like. 1/4 each of a red, green and yellow pepper, small diced. 1/2 cup of sliced black olives from a can, I just chopped them up. 1/2 of a large piece of celery, finely diced. 2 or 3 small green onions, finely diced. 2 tablespoons of parsley, plus salt and pepper to taste. A heaping 1/4 cup of crushed canned pineapple, drained 2 heaping tablespoons of crushed pecans. Stir everything together tasting for the correct seasoning adding more of the ingredients if you so desire. Now cover and refrigerate the mixture for a couple of hours, you can make this all the day before if you want. When you are ready to assemble, plop the mixture on to your serving platter and shape it into a barrel, now go get the top of the pineapple that you previously cut and place it on top. |
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| I used about 70 pecan halves, nice ones, not cracked. It sounds like a lot but I just bought an 8 ounce bag of raw pecan halves at Trader Joes and still had some leftover. Place them all over in rows on top and along the sides. |
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| You can serve this with your favorite crackers or baby carrots, it feeds a crowd! |
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| You can even make the cream cheese mixture up to 3 days before, I’ve done it and it tastes even better because all the flavors come together. |
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| Now this is my absolute, go to, hands down, favorite appetizer dip! Rosemary Olive Oil Pita Strips with Tuscan White Bean Dip. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this for a party, the recipe comes from my friend Jean, you can make a ton for practically pennies! |
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| The bean dip has flavors of garlic, parsley, and lemon all swirled with olive oil. |
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| The pita chips are made my taking a piece of pita bread, cutting it in strips then snipping the tops off and separating the top from the bottom. Then each strip is individually brushed with dried rosemary and olive oil then baked. You could make them up to 3 weeks ahead.I did a blog post on these a while back, here’s the link to the recipe on that page and here is the recipe on this post. ROSEMARY OLIVE OIL PITA CHIPS WITH TUSCAN WHITE BEAN DIP: (Thanks Jean!) First thing you do is soak some dried rosemary ( not fresh) in a bowl of extra virgin olive oil, you’ll be using this mixture for brushing on the pita’s. Let it soak for a good hour or so. **1 15oz can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans. **1/4 cup of fresh Italian parsley **2T fresh lemon juice along with and the grated lemon peel of one lemon **1 garlic clove **salt and pepper **1/3 cup of olive oil Put everything in a food processor and stream in the olive oil until nice and creamy. So easy! For the pita chips, buy a bag of fresh pita’s, take each pita and cut them into long strips, you should get six to 8 strips per pita. Now snip off the tips to square them off, and separate. After separation you should have around 16 individual chips then per pita. ( see why I say it makes a ton!) Brush each strip with the rosemary olive oil mixture on the rough side of the pita, the inner side, place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in a 400F oven for about 7-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool on a rack, then place them in your cookie tin for storage. NOTE: I would suggest not to put any rosemary in the dip at all, just the parsley, otherwise it would be too overpowering, the freshness of the zest, lemon juice, parsley and garlic is a great compliment. Feel free to double, triple, or whatever the recipe. I made 8 bags of pita with 6 cans of beans for my son and DIL’s baby shower!!!  |
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| I hope you try these summer appetizers for your next party! |
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
OMG–this recipe is just delicious! Don’t overlook making the pita chips–these two together are addicting. Love your recipes!
Marie hi, can I use a blender rather than a food processor for this recipe? By the way, I love your recipes and have made many, leaving smiling faces on family and friends alike! Thanks, Shelly
I don’t see why not Shelly, it just has to be nice and smooth
How far ahead can you make the bean dip? It looks yummy!
I would do the bean dip the day before, the chips you could do way ahead Mona
Both look fantastic and would be fun to have at a Superbowl party this weekend! GO BRONCOS!!!!
Loved the white bean dip. Don’t discard the “snipped” ends of the pita. Throw them in the oil mixture and bake with the chips. Delicious little morsels for the cook!
Great idea Dot!
Marie: I wanted a bit stronger rosemary flavor on the pita chips so I ground up the rosemary in a pepper grinder then placed it plus some unground rosemary in my olive oil. I also added some crushed garlic to the oil and let is sit for a while. I liked the result. I truly enjoy making your recipes. Thanks, Tom
Love that pineapple dip and its jaunty presentation! The flavor combination sounds terrific, and unique…
LL
Love that beautiful pineapple dip and presentation, Marie! And, of course the white bean dip is a favorite, too. I’ll bring the wine, just let me know when you’re serving these up again – happy summer!
I love the presentation of the cheese dip with the pineapple! How fun and how appropriate for a 4th of July celebration! Love the idea of the white bean dip too. Two winners hands down!
Oh Marie! Your dip is SUPER AWESOME!! I think all the guests will be shocked if I make this and surprise them.. =D This is the best-looking dip I’ve ever seen, and I’m sure it taste fabulous as well. 🙂
I’ve eaten a similar white bean dip and it was delicious. Looking forward to trying both of these. Great idea for decorating the “pineapple” dip!
Keep writing…
Both of these look fabulous. It would be hard to “mess up” the pineapple one by actually eating it. LOL!
I don’t know which I would like better Marie, they are both so delicious in ingredients! But wow, do I ever love how you presented the pineapple dip! Just love it! Roz at ‘la bella vita’. ps: hope you’re staying cool up in Chi-town these hot days of summer!
That’s just too good to eat! Brava!
I think I am going to pin everything you put on your blog… 🙂
With all the hot weather we are having across this whole country I think quite a few of your readers will be preparing your dips and chips as dinner tomorrow, Marie! Yummy and easy–perfect for summer!
Stay cool!
Both of these dips look divine! Beautiful presentation with the pineapple. I have white beans, I need to make this for a snack. xo
Yes, a glass (or two) of wine and I could happily make a meal of those 2 appetizers.
what a cool party dip
Dear Marie, I love the pineapple dip you have prepared. It is festive for summer gatherings and sounds delicious! You have such a beautiful blog. Please do visit soon. Blessings, Catherine
That pineapple dip is from the 50’s cookbook I have! It is so retro and fabulous! I am copying you!
Happy 4th my friend (and 5th and 6th too!). xo
Such fun!!!! Let the outdoor party season begin!
I love both of these. The pineapple one is definitely a show stopper. The white bean dip is begging me to make it. I have tons of rosemary growing in our garden. Perfecto! Thanks! Hope you had a lovely 4th of July, and that the weather was kind to you.
Marie – I remember making a spread with a recipe similar to that decades ago, but never with such a striking presentation. It’s a show-stopper. The tuscan bean dip and pita chips are a standard with me – I remember when you originally posted them. I sometimes make a meal of just that! Hope you kept cool this Fourth of July!