Watching This Way Up tonight? Make this chip n’ dip before it starts

Simple and satisfying, this delicious ranch dip with sweet potato crisps is perfect for a night in front of the telly.

Ranch Dip with Sweet Potato Crisps

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the ranch dip
60ml buttermilk
150g cream cheese
40ml mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp freshly snipped chives
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
1 tbsp freshly chopped dill
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sweet potato crisps
2 sweet potatoes
2 tbsp sunflower oil

Equipment
a baking sheet, lightly greased

Method
In a bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth.

Put the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, chives, parsley and dill in a food processor and blitz until very finely chopped and the oil has emulsified. Make sure that there are no large pieces of garlic.

Fold the herb oil into the cream cheese mixture with the paprika and mustard, mixing well so that it is all combined. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Spoon into a serving bowl.

For the chips, preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, finely slice the sweet potato and pat dry. Toss the slices in sunflower oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the veg on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, then turn and bake for 5 minutes more, or until crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with an extra sprinkling of sea salt.

Variation
Cheddar, bacon and onion ranch dip: Fry 4 rashers/slices of lean bacon until crisp, then chop into small pieces. Allow to cool and stir into the dip (omitting the dill from the original recipe), along with 4 tbsp grated cheddar cheese.

Garnish with a handful of chopped spring onions and serve with giant pretzels for dipping.

Extracted from Binge-Watching Eats by Katherine Bebo (Ryland Peters & Small, €13.99). Photography © Ryland Peters & Small.