Spicy Italian Dipping Sauce

I wasn’t really sure what to call this yummy concoction, so I’ll take your suggestions. Basically, this what you get when you sit down at an Italian restaurant. I love bread and olive oil with balsamic vinegar and cracked pepper. Adding this pesto-y herb blend really takes it up a notch. I could literally make a meal out this with fresh sourdough bread and a glass of Cabernet. Seriously, what else does a girl need?

You’ll need:
Fresh Italian Parsley
Fresh Sweet Basil
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh garlic
Fresh lemon
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Dried Thyme
Cracked red pepper
Cracked black pepper

Sourdough bread (or whatever you choose as your vehicle of consumption)

Wash and pat dry all your fresh herbs. Chop them up a little, removing the bottom part of the stems from the herbs. For the rosemary, I peeled the leaves off the stem entirely.

Place into your food processor. Squeeze the juice of half of a large lemon in. Add a teaspoon or two of cracked red pepper, depending on how much spice you like. A few shakes of dried thyme, a teaspoon or two of kosher salt and a couple grinds of cracked black pepper.

Blend until your get a good consistency. The natural water in the herbs will make it moist, no need to add extra oil in this step.

Drizzle olive oil over your herb mix and plate with bread. Perfect to serve as an appetizer or if you’re like me… Add a glass of cabernet and call it a meal.