Spinach and Artichoke Dip

If you have never tried Spinach and Artichoke dip, I would begin to think, you've been living in a vacuum. It (in my guess) is probably one of the most popular appetizers of all time. There are quite a few variations out there, but one of my favorites is by Olive Garden. 

As you've probably noticed from previous recipes, Olive Garden posts their recipes on their website. Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do, but better than letting epicurious.com or allrecipes.com give our your secrets.  At least by posting your recipes, you have people going to your site and you have the chance to make them drool over your creations.

I would have to also tell you, many of Olive Garden's better recipes are pretty complicated.  I did the chicken Marsala which was fairly easy, but the better version, the stuffed chicken Marsala, is loaded with lots of steps and ingredients. The spinach and artichoke dip, however, is one of the simplest dishes you can hope for. This recipe pretty much requires you to get the listed ingredients, dump them in a bowl, mix them up and bake them (Trained monkey, nuff said). The hardest part was finding all the ingredients. Marscarpone cheese is not very easy to find.  It's a spreadable cheese that is similar to cream cheese with a different flavor. It has more of a buttery flavor. Luckily, a friend of mine found it at Lowe's Foods.  I found a few recipes online that are substitutes for marscarpone, but having never tried them, I won't post any of them.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

(Olive Garden)

14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced

1 lb cream cheese, room temp. (16 oz.)

8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temp.

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ tsp. fresh thyme leaves

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper

1 Tbs. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

5 green onions, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

6 oz pack fresh spinach, chopped

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra virgin olive oil. Coat a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan with mixture. Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and center is hot.

 

I served this to some friends on Saturday and it was a big hit. I must admit that I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it was totally an accident.  I bought a 9 oz. package of spinach and left out the green onions. I bought the green onions and meant to put them in, but forgot.  It wasn't until I was typing out the recipe today that I realized that I made these mistakes. I put this in an 8 x 8 casserole dish and baked it.  It made quite a bit and five of us (however much we really wanted to finish it) could not eat the whole thing.  My advice would be to either half the recipe or make the full recipe and only bake half at a time and freeze the other portion for later. I really hope you enjoy.