Pizza Dip

Here's an easy tried and true recipe I need to pull back out for Game Night at our house soon.  Make sure you serve this with some hearty crackers or breadsticks!

Pizza Dip

Serves 10

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces), divided
1/2 cup pizza sauce

  Start by preheating your oven to 350°F.  Using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Beat until well-blended.  Spread the cream cheese mix on the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate.  Top with 1 cup of mozzarella, spread on the pizza sauce, and sprinkle on the remaining cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through.

Tip - Feel free to add in your favorite pizza toppings to customize this dip to your tastes.  I'd put them on top of the pizza sauce before the final layer of cheese.

Hot Artichoke Dip

  We are wading into the holiday season, replete with good friends and good food.  Deep into football season, Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means Christmas and New Year's Day are hot on its heels.  Time to break out the appetizers - easier the better.  Today I'm sharing with you a recipe I found in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks awhile back.   

Hot Artichoke Dip

Serves 12 - Yields about 3 cups

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped (I used jarred peppers for this)
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/3 cup French fried onions, divided

  Start off by preheating your oven to 375°F.  Spray a 9 inch pie dish (or a 1 quart baking dish) with cooking spray.

  In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, pepper, artichoke, and 2/3 cup of the French fried onions.  Spoon it into the pie dish and spread it out.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup of onions on top.  Return the dip to the oven for another 5 minutes, until your onions are a nice golden brown.  Serve the dip with crackers or bagel chips.

Hot Spinach Dip

  It's football time!  Cooler days ahead, and lots of time hanging out with friends.  Today I'm going to share one of the very first entertaining recipes I learned, shortly after getting married.  It's absolutely quick, easy, makes good use of the microwave, and tasty, to boot.  Every time I make it, there's a flurry of tortilla chips diving into the bowl.  This recipe originates from Desperation Entertaining by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. 

Hot Spinach Dip

Ingredients

1 package (9 or 10 oz) frozen creamed spinach, Stouffer's preferred
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Tortilla chips, for serving


  Start off by cutting a small slit in the top of the creamed spinach bag and lay it on a microwave-safe plate.  Microwave the spinach on high until it's thawed, about 2 minutes.

  Open up the spinach and pour it into a microwave-safe bowl.  Add in all the other ingredients and stir until the cream cheese is pretty well incorporated.  You'll still have some lumps, and that is perfectly fine.  Microwave the dip, uncovered, on high, until it gets bubbly - 5 minutes.  Stop it halfway through the 5 minutes to give it a good stir.  Serve at once with tortilla chips.

Notes: Normally I don't detect much difference in brands of ingredients, but this is a case where the brand makes a difference in the outcome of the recipe.  I really suggest trying to find the Stouffer's creamed spinach for this dip.  It gives it a decadent richness that other brands just don't give - if you can't find Stouffer's, feel free to sub, but if you can find it, use that creamed spinach.