Carrot bread with ricotta dip for lunch

I've been craving a ricotta dip for a few days now and since I haven't had it in a very long time, it seemed like a good idea to remind myself of its taste literally. What I've noticed is that it goes equally nicely with both vegetables and fruit. So, I decided to match it with carrot bread (my first). Sadly, even though I knew I should squeeze the water out of the carrots, I missed the step. It didn't bake as nicely as I would have wanted it and it should have had twice the volume it ended up with (I just made half a doze without considering using another form - my mind's elsewhere today :S), but it was delicious anyway. I particularly enjoyed how well the bread and the dip go together.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup flour

30 g. butter

3/4 cup carrot

1/4 cup yoghurt

1/2 t. sp. baking soda

1/2 sp. baking powder

1 tb. sp. sugar

1 t. sp. salt

1 tb. sp. poppy seed

1/2 t. sp. ground cardamom 

1/2 t. sp. cinnamon

2 tb. sp. raisin

For the dip

100 g. ricotta cheese

3 tb. sp. sweet corn

1 tb. sp. peas

2 tb. sp. fresh onion

1/2 red pepper

salt

basil

Method

1. Mix the eggs and the soft butter.

2. Put the baking soda in the yoghurt.

3. Sift the flour in a big bowl and add the dry ingredients.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix them well. Add the blended carrots and the raisin and fold them into the batter. 

5. Bake at 220 C until ready.

If you are making the ricotta dip, just cut the pepper and the fresh onion and mix everything together. Garnish with basil.

Have an enjoyable and productive week!