Paula Deen’s Hot Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Though college football season is over (Go Bears!), the Colts are headed for the playoffs, so we’ve been watching a lot of football…and with such events come…hot dips! While we were at Trader Joe’s (obviously one of my favorite places for groceries) we quickly Googled a warm spinach & artichoke dip recipe and settled on Paula Deen’s recipe. She’s known for adding butter and extra richness to everything she makes, but this recipe certainly is not as overly rich as some of the other spinach & artichoke dips I’ve made in the past. This is most definitely the recipe we’ll use going forward. It’s a good balance of artichoke, spinach, and cheese.

PAULA DEEN’S HOT SPINACH-ARTICHOKE DIP

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 (13 3/4-ounce) cans artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have…we used a three cheese blend the first time)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish with nonstick spray.
2. Run water over the spinach to defrost and squeeze dry.
3. Drain the artichoke hearts and coarsely chop in a food processor.
4. Combine all the ingredients except the jack cheese in a large bowl. Stir well.
5. Scrape into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the jack cheese on top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer to a chafing dish and keep warm over a low flame. Serve with bagel chips or tortilla chips.

ADJUSTMENTS & COMMENTS

• We’ve made this twice in the last two weeks. The first time, I baked it in an 8×8 inch pan…but then you keep having to warm it up (though its also good not hot). The second time, I threw everything (including the cheese meant to be on top) into my mini crockpot a few hours before heading over to a friend’s house and left it in the crockpot on warm throughout the two games. It was a hit!
• The second time, we also threw in a few ounces of leftover mascarpone, which was delicious. I think you can throw in whatever cheese you want into this dip and it won’t be adversely affected. I bet some brie would be good!
• The second time around, we didn’t have enough frozen spinach so I supplemented it with some fresh spinach. Boil some salted water, throw in the spinach until its cooked down (just a few minutes), cool down with cold water, squeeze dry, chop, and put it in with everything else.
• Cracked pepper is always good and a couple splashes of Frank’s Red Hot never hurts either.
• We served with blue corn tortilla chips, which I think makes for a fun color contrast.

And lest you think we always eat rich gooey foods, this is what we typically eat for lunch:

Leafy spinach salad with chopped apples, carrots, beets, almonds, (whatever else we have lying around) and TJ’s chicken nuggets topped with a drizzle of Japanese miso dressing (the dressing is seriously like crack…so good!).

Spinach & Cheese Strata

I have no idea what a “strata” is, but that’s what Deb over at Smitten Kitchen called it. I would describe it as a breakfast bread pudding. My good friend made something similar for the morning after my 30th birthday…and I thought I’d give it a try.

Sauteed onions, leeks, spinach, and ham

My modifications from Deb’s recipe:

• I used a multi-grain seeded ciabatta from Trader Joe’s and three slices of wheat toast for the bread.
• I also added one leek and two slices of ham I had in the fridge.
• I also used non-fat milk since that’s what I had on hand, but would use low-fat milk in the future to make it a little less dry.
• I used a 9×13 pyrex glass.
• In the future, I would probably add two more eggs, omit the onions, use more spinach, and throw in some bacon & mushrooms.

I had made this the night before with the intention of having company over for brunch the next morning (served w/bacon on the side and many, many mimosas). However, when I woke up that morning I was pretty sick and so we canceled brunch (boo!). When I got out of bed later that day, I threw it in the oven and we had it for a late lunch, which was still pretty good. However, this is way too much for two people…we had it for breakfast for the next several mornings. I served it with some sauteed mushrooms, a dollop of mascarpone cheese, some bacon jam (basically a bacon & onion compote), and a couple splashes of Frank’s Red Hot.

Overall, this is a good base recipe that I will use again in the future…but only if we are having company over for brunch.