If there’s one thing that we don’t run out of at home, it has to be cheese.
We also never run out of dirty dishes piled up at the sink..but that’s a different story. Let’s talk about about cheese today. Specifically, let’s talk about Native White Cheese or as we fondly call it, Kesong Puti.
Kesong Puti is fresh, soft, white cheese that is very much like cottage cheese but is made from unskimmed carabao’s milk. You can find it wrapped in banana leaves at the refrigerated section of the supermarkets.
I buy my Kesong Puti at the Malabon Public Market {Bayan}, though, because I find it fresher, softer and not too salty just like how I like it to be. It is one of my favorite pandesal filling during breakfast.
The other day, I woke up with a recipe idea that uses Kesong Puti as one of the ingredients, so I bought four pieces from the Malabon Public Market at ₱35 per piece. I bought that much because I know one of them will surely be eaten as soon as I got home. And I was right. My brother opened one and put slices inside a hot-off-the-oven pandesal. I ended up using only two of the four pieces that I bought.
Yesterday, I wasn’t feeling good because of a cough. To make matter’s worse, it’s Mother’s Day and I miss my peanutbutter♥. Most of my day was spent inside the bedroom watching tear-inducing Mother’s Day Tagalog movies. I was in the mood for chocolate, chips and ooey-gooey food. I remembered there’s one more Kesong Puti inside the fridge and got an idea.
I asked my neighbor for a some Malunggay {Moringa} leaves and came up with this! I paired it with Garlic Oregano Toast which lent an herb-y taste to this creamy, cheesy dip!
Happy Mother’s Day to me..
Now, off to buy a Chocolate Caramel Cake…
If you are not an oregano type of person, you can also try pairing this dip with Spanish Paprika Toast.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 1 cup malunggay leaves/ Moringa Leaves
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- 1 tbsp hot sauce {optional}
- ½ cup Kesong Puti/ Native White Cheese
- 1 cup Perfect Italiano Pizza Plus Cheese or 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
- salt and ground pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350. In a medium pan, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add garlic and onion and saute until onion becomes translucent and the garlic a little brown on the
- edges. Add Malunggay leaves and cook for about 30 sec.
- Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- On the same pan, warm milk over high heat. Whisk in Kesong Puti and ¾ of your cheese mixture.
- Pour in your Malunggay mixture.
- Stir to combine, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese mixture on top.
- Bake until bubbly and golden brown.
- Serve hot with the Garlic Oregano Toast
- I used sliced Monay, but feel free to use any bread you like
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- pinch of salt
- ground oregano
- Put garlic and butter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until butter melts and gets infused with the flavor of garlic.
- Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
- Slice your bread of choice into your desired thickness and bursh generously with the garlic-butter mixture. Sprinkle with ground oregano.
- Broil in the oven until golden and crisy
It looks so cheesy and delicious!
What a great dip! Wonderfully cheesy.
Cheers,
Rosa
The dip looks great as does the toast, but I don’t what the leaves taste like? Do the Moringa leaves have a distinct taste? I am sure I wouldn’t have a problem polishing off the whole dish of cheesy dip!
Nazneen
I can relate to your story about the cheese, my hubby also loves cheese and he always get it from the fridge. When the time comes that I will use a cheese on my dish, there’s no cheese left for me. Anyway, I love your dip with malunggay. It’s nutritious and at the same time you can get it free from a neighbor.
You guys are really creative with food! My kids and husband love cheese, I am the only one at our home that isn’t fond of cheese.
Yummy. I remember back in the province, when we were young, we always have kesong puti for breakfast. I miss this so much with pandesal.
sis, i so love your pictures. i could grab the food out of it. thanks for sharing this recipe.
belated happy mom’s day, too!
Arlene
http://sunshineleneforlife.com
great recipe and beautiful pictures.:)
This is a good recipe for making cheese dip and really interesting recipe for malunggay. Thanks for sharing.
yummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy indeed and makes me drool 🙂 My husband and my son would love this cheesy and delish dish except for my little girl as she is allergic to cheese 🙂 Don’t worry about the file of dishes in the sink, mine is the same 🙂 Just enjoy this delish meal that you bake 🙂
http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2013/05/meeting-filipino-friends-during-our-vacation.html
I have no idea what malunggay leaves are or how they taste, but this sure looks delicious! What tempting pictures!
I don’t really like oregano, so I don’t know if I’d like that. Haha But I do love cheese! :))
Mei
http://petitegurl.com
Seems yummy and healthy.
http://iamdenmark.com
I’ll bookmark your recipe. Hindi ito nakakaguilty. 🙂
Liza
I have no idea what malunggay leaves are, but my mouth is watering looking at your pictures!!! Awesome dip Peachy!!!!
Oh….and a Happy Mother’s Day to you, Hope you’re feeling better!