Remember when I said a couple days ago that I'm ready to detox from all the Christmas foods? Yeah and then I'm giving you a creamy dip recipe today. I guess that's the reality of coming off Christmas then realizing you might have a New Year's Eve party coming up! I've tried a lot of spinach dips and I really just love them all. But this recipe has been a winner for me. You can do it with or without artichokes. I can sometimes find those at an import store or online in China but not always. Fresh spinach from the market is easy enough. But there IS the cream cheese and Parmesan in this. It will be best if you can use a block Parmesan that you shred, not the green bottle kind. But that works in a pinch too. I'll share some ideas at the bottom for substituting and tweaking, but I'll share the recipe as it is for the best turn out. Thanks for sticking with me here at Market to Meal through 2013 and I'm excited about what all might appear in 2014, so you should be too!
Baked Spinach Dip
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic salt
extra salt and pepper to taste
1- 1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked spinach, drained of excess water
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a small baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayo, Parmesan, garlic, basil, garlic salt. Gently stir in spinach. Taste a bit and add salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake about 20 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve warm with crackers, tortilla chips or toasted French bread slices.
Spinach Artichoke Variation: Cut back spinach to 1/2 - 1 cup and add 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped. (I usually do about 1 cup spinach and only half a can of artichokes.)
Notes: This really needs a shredded Parmesan that melts a bit rather than the Kraft kind. I have found it before from the Aishang guy in my city for reasonably priced. You could put half this kind and half Kraft if needed. I've not tried it, but you might could get by with a little Kraft and some mozzarella instead. Or maybe even just all mozzarella. The flavor would just be different. Its really the cream cheese that makes the creaminess. I have made this with homemade cream cheese too. It did fine but wasn't quite as creamy--it cooked up a bit differently when it was baked. Hope that helps as you figure out what is available to you!
Baked Spinach Dip
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic salt
extra salt and pepper to taste
1- 1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked spinach, drained of excess water
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a small baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayo, Parmesan, garlic, basil, garlic salt. Gently stir in spinach. Taste a bit and add salt and pepper as needed. Transfer to baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake about 20 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve warm with crackers, tortilla chips or toasted French bread slices.
Spinach Artichoke Variation: Cut back spinach to 1/2 - 1 cup and add 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped. (I usually do about 1 cup spinach and only half a can of artichokes.)
Notes: This really needs a shredded Parmesan that melts a bit rather than the Kraft kind. I have found it before from the Aishang guy in my city for reasonably priced. You could put half this kind and half Kraft if needed. I've not tried it, but you might could get by with a little Kraft and some mozzarella instead. Or maybe even just all mozzarella. The flavor would just be different. Its really the cream cheese that makes the creaminess. I have made this with homemade cream cheese too. It did fine but wasn't quite as creamy--it cooked up a bit differently when it was baked. Hope that helps as you figure out what is available to you!
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