Skordalia is a traditional Greek dip, made with raw garlic, “skordo” as is its name in Greek. It is eaten every year on the 25th of March, the Greek Independence Day, alongside battered fried cod. It is also a classic dish found on every taverna. It accompanies boiled beetroot or green beans, fried zucchini or aubergine.
The classic recipe calls for olive oil, vinegar and either stale bread soaked in water or boiled potato. Sometimes nuts are also added. There are of course many variations and each household has its own loved version of the dish.
As spring is coming to an end, young garlic is all around us. So this week we’re making skordalia, but with a few twists. This is a recipe adapted from a 1989 calendar with traditional Greek recipes and comes from mainland Greece. We are adding fresh spinach, which gives a wonderful green colour, and almond butter, for a nutty take on the classic dish. Our smooth almond butter is made purely from organic, raw almonds, with no added salt or any preservatives. It is the ideal way to get all the nutrients from nuts! Feel free to use whatever type of garlic you prefer; wild garlic leaves would also work great here.
We are using our favourite Ergani olive oil, which has a robust, rich flavour and our white wine vinegar for that gentle kick.
Serves 6
100g stale bread (we used white sourdough)
100g spinach leaves (1 cup)
100g almond butter, raw almonds or other nuts
2 cloves of garlic
130g olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt, more olive oil and vinegar to taste
Soak the bread in water for a few minutes until soft. Squeeze out all excess water and place it in a food processor.
Add the spinach, almond butter, garlic and vinegar and pulse everything together, slowly adding the olive oil.
You should have a thick homogenous mixture.
Season with salt, adding more olive oil and vinegar to taste.
