Today I’m sharing a slightly unusual recipe — maybe even a bit hipster-ish 🙂: white bean dip with wild garlic. It’s a fresh spring variation of the classic Romanian bean spread, with a pale green color and a garlicky twist.
Although wild garlic season is almost over, you can still occasionally find it at local markets if you are lucky. It is definitely worth grabbing a bunch while you still can — its flavor completely transforms the dish and gives it a bright, green freshness.
The recipe is simple, quick, and surprisingly interesting for such humble ingredients.
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Ingredients
- 2 cans white beans
- 1 bunch wild garlic
- 1 large white onion
- 2–3 tablespoons sunflower oil
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Rinse the beans thoroughly under running water and drain them well. Transfer them to a food processor. If you like, keep a few beans aside for garnish.
Wash the wild garlic and remove the stems.
Finely chop the onion and sauté it in sunflower oil over medium heat. When the onion becomes soft and lightly golden, add the wild garlic leaves. Cook for about one more minute — just enough for the leaves to soften and lose some of their sharpness, but without wilting too much.
Sautéed onions combined with fresh wild garlic in a pan, forming an aromatic base for a traditional dish
Add the onion, wild garlic, and the flavored oil to the beans.
Ingredients for Romanian white bean spread (fasole bătută) with wild garlic placed in a food processor before blending
Blend everything until smooth and creamy. If needed, add a little water to loosen the texture and obtain a softer spread.
White bean spread with wild garlic being blended in a food processor until smooth and creamy
I skipped the traditional caramelized onion topping because the dip already contains onion, and I wanted the wild garlic flavor to remain the star of the dish.
Notes
This wild garlic bean dip pairs wonderfully with fresh bread, toasted pita, or crackers. It works equally well as an appetizer or part of a spring mezze platter alongside fresh vegetables. It is one of those simple recipes that proves humble ingredients can become surprisingly elegant when combined thoughtfully.