A Super Bowl of Spinach Artichoke Dip

One of my favorite things to order at CPK is their spinach artichoke dip. I'm noticing a bit of a reoccurring theme here.. making my restaurant favorites-at home! For the Super Bowl Jesse's roommates had a party like they do every year. With about 30 people in attendance I decided to make something I knew would be a sure hit and great for game viewing.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I searched high and low for a recipe that called for fresh ingredients and no mayo or sour cream (Jesse hates both). I stumbled upon Emeril Lagasse's take on the classic. As usual, I adjusted a few things. I used a jar less of artichoke hearts, olive oil instead of vegetable, added a little more cheese and garlic, and added green onions. :)

Ingredients:

To make a thick sauce you almost always have to start with a roux. Flour and a fat (oil or butter).

After adding the milk and letting it come to a boil, we took it off the heat and incorporated the grated cheese. It was definitely a team effort. :)

We let the cheese sauce sit to the side and made sure it was well seasoned with salt and pepper and cayenne pepper for a little kick!

In the meantime, I sauteed the fresh spinach leaves with onions.

Had to make sure it all wilted down (basically to a third of it's original size).

Then I added the garlic and chopped artichokes hearts.

FINALLY it was time to combine all our ingredients!

Make sure to fold the cheese in small batches into the spinach and artichoke mixture. Do not over stir the cheese sauce or it will become slimy. ew.

Tasted great even like this!

I made double the recipe so I transferred the almost finished dip into to baking dish. Sorry for my lack of beautiful presentation. I was working in a kitchen that is usually used by the ex frat boys that live in the house.

I baked the dip for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. I would have loved to have used a broiler to get the top a little more golden brown. But either way the cheese was bubbling and it all smelled great!

Enjoy!!