Pita chips with Green Peas and Ricotta Dip

I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do, 50 % of it is food network. My typical bed time routine is to turn on the food network and write the posts for the blog. I don't even watch TV constantly but I just like the sound of it. One such night, I was watching 'Unique eats' on Cooking Channel. They were talking about a place in NY which sell crostini with different toppings. One vegetarian topping that they were praising was with green peas and ricotta. For some reason, that stayed in my mind and when we were invited for dinner this weekend, I made this to take it. (Lucky me the host asked me to get an appetizer) I did use green chillies to spice it up a bit since we like food with heat. You can definitely omit it if you don't want the heat.

One Year back - Methi Subzi with split green peas
Ingredients:
Frozen peas - 3 1/2 cups
Ricotta cheese - 1 - 1 1/4 cups (I used part skim but fat free would work too)
Sour cream - 1/4 cup (I used low fat but fat free would work too)
Olive Oil - 3 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Green Chillies - 10
Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Lime juice - from one lime

Method:
Nuke the frozen green peas in the microwave for about 3 - 5 minutes. You are not cooking it, just warming it up. Place the green peas, olive oil, green chillies, cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper in a food processor and process till coarse paste. Add ricotta cheese and sour cream and pulse couple more minutes till everything is incorporated. Adjust the seasonings if required and serve with pita chips or plain corn chips. I kind of made it into a smooth paste since my intention was to serve with chips. If you want to use it as a topping for bruschetta or crostini, make a coarse paste. Measurements in this is just to give an idea. You could increase or decrease the ricotta and sour cream depending on your taste.


To make pita chips:
Ingredients:
Pocket less pita bread - I used whole wheat pita bread (1 pita would serve 2 people)
Olive oil - for brushing
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Take two cookie sheets. Place pita one at a time on the cutting board. Brush the pita with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Try to hold the grinder at a good height so that the salt and pepper sprinkles evenly) Using a pizza slicer or a very sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges. Place them on the baking sheet and bake for 12 - 14 minutes rotating mid way. Cool on the wire rack. Keep in an airtight container if using later. It stays crisp if stored properly for at least 4 days. Serve with the above mentioned dip or Guacamole or Hummus. This is one of those appetizers which can be made in advance and is pretty healthy too.

Enjoy!! Pin It