A terrific accompaniment to char-grilled steak, lamb, chicken and fish with a green salad, using pantry ingreidents. Also good as a dip with Lebanese or Turkish bread with some coarsely chopped black olives.

Serves 4

1 whole bulb of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
2 x 400g tin white beans
125ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon, or to taste
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

Slice the top from the garlic bulb, drizzle with a little oil and roast at 180degC for 45 minutes. Remove and cool slightly.
Drain the beans, and wash well. Place them in the bowl of a food processor with 8 – 10 cloves of the softened garlic. Process to a coarse paste, add the olive oil and lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir through the parsley.

Tip: squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins directly into the puree. Any leftover garlic can be stored in a covered container in the fridge and used when needed. Lima beans or chickpeas can be substituted for the white beans.