A creamy dip, and a perfect partner for warm pitta bread, fresh crudites or as part of a Greek mezze platter. Serves 2-4 as a snack

Htipiti, a feta cheese and red pepper spread of Greek orgin is known by several different names including Ktipiti, Tirokafteri, or Kopanisti, which is also a cheese.

The predominant ingredients are feta and red peppers. However, it’s difficult to determine one true recipe for this creamy dip as variations exist across Greece. Some recipes call for chilli peppers, some for garlic. Some recipes include oregano or chilli flakes. And some include none of these additions.

For this recipe, I’ve used fresh peppers to be roasted and peeled, however this step can be skipped and replaced with store brought roasted red pepper. I prefer roasting peppers at home as the store brought one are often stored in brine, giving them a saltier, more saline like flavour.

Ingredients

200g Feta, + Extra to Garnish

1 Red Pepper

2 Tbsp Olive Oil +1 Tbsp for Cooking

Juice from ½ Lemon

1 Tsp Black Pepper

¼ Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Pinch of Oregano, To Garnish

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees C or 440 degrees F or gas mark 8.
2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and drizzle it with ½ of the reserved olive oil.
3. Remove the seeds but keep the flesh of the pepper as whole as it can be and lay flat along the parchment paper. Drizzle with the remining ½ of reserved oil.
4. Roast the pepper flesh for 10-12 minutes until the skin begins to blister and char. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before peeling the blackened skin. Discard the skin.
5. Place all the other ingredients into a blender with the pepper flesh, and blitz until combined.
6. Top with extra feta and oregano and serve with pitta or crudites.