Ingredients

White bean dip:

 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 1 1/8 cup dry white beans
 1 large onion
 2 bay leaves
 water
 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
 2-3 garlic cloves, to taste
 fine sea salt

Instructions
White bean dip:
1. Rinse the beans and place them in a large bowl. Cover with water and leave to soak
overnight.
2. Rinse again, place in a large bowl, cover with plenty of water, add the halved onion
and the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Cook for about 1 hour or until the beans are
soft. The cooking time will greatly depend on the size and age of the beans, so keep
checking.
3. Drain the beans but keep some of the cooking water.
 4. Discard the onion and the bay leaves. Leave the beans to cool slightly, then place
them in the food processor together with about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid and two
tablespoons vegetable oil.
5. Add the grated garlic cloves (I prefer to grate the garlic myself before giving it to the
food processor, just to make sure I will not bite on some larger pieces of garlic later).
6. Process until they are really smooth, scraping down from the food processor walls a
few times in between. Add more cooking liquid, a little at a time, to get the right
consistency, it should be like a really thick crème fraiche or softer mashed potatoes.
7. Add salt to taste and blend it.

If you want to add caramelized onions over it :

1. Slice the onions into thin rounds.

2. Add them to a saute pan over medium low heat with the olive oil.
3. Allow them to cook slowly (about 20 minutes).
4. When the onions begin to brown, add the balsamic vinegar.
5. Continue to cook until the onions are a dark brown color.
6. Put the bean dip in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Sprinkle with sweet paprika, or, if you want a little heat, you can choose hot paprika,
or coarsely ground red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
8. Top with the onion.