Sylvia's
Chopped Olive Goodie
Ingredients -- Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian
This hearty "dip" can be
spread on celery, WASA crackers, alternative flour crackers
such as almond flour, or crudités such as cauliflower and
carrots.
- 1 or more packages (~12 oz) of full-fat Cream
Cheese (also Neufchậtel cheese works well, even though it's
less fat than Cream Cheese. It's more flavorful.)
- An Equal Amount (in this case, ~12 oz) of
Ricotta Cheese (full-fat if possible)
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes -- approximately 1/3 cup+
for the above 24 oz of cheese. Either the completely dry
ones can be used, or the ones preserved in oil.
- 2 small cans (~5 oz each) chopped or sliced
olives
- about 2 stalks of fresh Celery, chopped in
half or more and the halves sliced as thinly as possible
- about 1.5 Tbsp or Worchestershire Sauce, to
taste
- Spices to taste: about 2 tsp. of
Seasoned Salt, or regular salt plus paprika; even more Paprika
to taste; around 1 Tbsp of garlic powder; could consider dried
Parsley, white or Cayenne pepper; maybe a very small amount of
rosemary, basil, or thyme.
Allow the cream cheese to come to room
temperature. While you're waiting, chop the sun-dried
tomatoes as fine as possible. This takes a little
practice. The ones preserved in oil can usually be
chopped in a blender. Chopping the dried ones in a
blender tends to leave a residue on the blender blades, which
quickly makes chopping less effective. The residue can
be cleaned off and try again with more tomatoes. If
necessary, chop them by hand with a sharp knife. As
noted, chop and slice the celery in order to get small and
very thin pieces.
For this stage, reserve around half to three-quarters of the
chopped olives from one can. Now combine all the other
ingredients in a large mixing bowl. The mixture will
have most of the olives mixed into it, but spread a layer of
olives-only on top as a garnish. Refrigerate until
needed.
For best results, let the flavors marry in the refrigerator
overnight. The flavors definitely become richer &
more complex with time.