Italian Seven Layer Dip

 

Italian Seven Layer Dip is traditional no bake appetizer bursting with fresh ingredients, tuna and nuts. Ricotta and mozzarella make it complete. Crostini or grissini can be served instead of potato chips!

 

Do you still cherish tradition of going to street market on Saturday morning? For us, there is nothing that sweet as basket full of fruits and vegetables and cup of coffee with fresh morning edition of newspapers afterwards. There is something magical in the smell of fresh papers or is it just me? I feel the same about books.

Do you belong to traveling foodies category so you explore street markets in visiting country to discover their habits, language, gestures, music, quality of vegetables and fruits, spices, prices?

Well, we do. And enjoy it every single step.

When spring arrives, it is very important to choose fresh crispy vegetables to prepare vitamins’ loaded food.

 

This is why I present no bake Italian style appetizer here, made of 7 layers, one better than another! 😊

It has no white beans or jar of marinated artichoke hearts. This traditional Italian dip starts with Ricotta cream cheese and a pinch of salt. Sliced grilled bell peppers are amazing to add on Ricotta. If you grilled some bell peppers for your lunch or dinner the day before, leftovers may serve excellent!

The only canned ingredient follows: tuna chunks in olive oil. You just sprinkle the chunks to make another layer of this Italian dip. Some of my friends replace tuna with smoked  Italian sausage. It tastes great too! Chopped fresh basil leaves, mozzarella, olives, and capers make appetizer so vibrant and bursting with flavors!

Roasted pine nuts bring this Italian party food to a completely new level. Once you grab the dip with potato chips you get nutty and woody flavours.

You may ask what the best replacement is for them. It’s cashews. Cashews have a lightly sweet flavor and soft texture that mimics pine nuts rather well.

To learn more about the best substitutes for pine nuts, please look here     .

Once you complete this Italian dip recipe, you can serve it with spring onions, radishes, and celery. Also, two colored potato chips were our option, but you may substitute them with breadsticks or crostini.

Sometimes, I am just a few seconds away of putting the heat proof pan with Italian Seven Layer Dip into the oven to melt the cheese and make the flavours hot and intense but I withdraw. No bake version is as comforting as baked one. But, you are free to decide for yourself. If you, however, find melted mozzarella irresistible, you may do so. The best temperature is 180 C / 356 F. Your Italian appetizer spread is ready once mozzarella melts !

Enjoy !