Spinach Artichoke Dip

You inspired me. Friday night, as I was trying to decide what to do about dinner, it occurred to me that I had been putting off making this recipe for too long. It was never the perfect time. I don't have this, or I'm out of that. But after your last "Gatorade is close enough to orange juice" post, I decided to quit my bitching and just make it already.

The recipe was iffy. It didn't say how much of some ingredients to use, or how to prepare half of it. It assumed you could read its mind. It assumed you could wing it. SO I DID. I made it with what I had on hand, and fleshed out the recipe. I even wrote in some wiggle room for next time I make it.

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 package (10-16 oz WHATEVER YOU HAVE) frozen chopped spinach
8 oz cream cheese
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced (or 3-4 cloves roasted?) garlic
4 oz mozzarella cheese
1 can (12-14 oz WHO KNOWS) chopped artichoke hearts, drained
1 stick butter
Salt, black and white pepper – to taste (what recipe doesn't use pepper? ridiculous. added.)

Oven temp: 350

Microwave spinach in an oven-safe glass dish, according to package directions (about 6-8 minutes, covered). THE RECIPE DID NOT TELL ME THIS NEXT PART, but definitely do it. I could eyeball it and see how crucial a step it is:

Drain well, and press dry. Seriously. I drained it, but I didn't press it. I should have pressed it. There was a hint of spinach water pooling in the bottom of my dip, and that can really DAMPEN (hahahaha) your experience.

Return spinach to casserole dish. Pepper to taste, and add a little salt – but sparingly. The other ingredients, plus any chips you eat with the dip, will add salt.

MEANWHILE. Saute onion and garlic in butter until clear. I only had half a stick of butter in the fridge, so I fleshed out the rest with margarine. I used minced garlic, but next time I will increase it. Or - no, next time I'll probably try it with roasted garlic instead, because roasted garlic is almost always better (to me). Also, I did not have a single onion in my house, so I dug way down in the bottom of my freezer and found some frozen onion. Not...ideal. But whatever. Fresh onion will give off much more flavor and fragrance, but heeeyyyy. Times like this are why I let a little bag of frozen onion live in my freezer.

Mix cream cheese and artichoke hearts with spinach (I thew the artichokes in a food processor, because I only had whole ones). Add butter and onion mixture. Adjust seasonings again, if you need to, and add more pepper or salt. Mix in a small amount of mozzarella cheese, and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

I didn't have 8 oz of cream cheese, but I had most of a tub of the whipped kind that I used for my cucumber sandwiches - so I dumped that in, and fleshed out the missing part with extra mozzarella. Voi-freakin-la, half an hour later we had some pretty good dip. Not incredible, like it could be if I did everything just right, but good enough for Friday night. A couple glasses of wine later, and it was even tastier.

Note: this made a pretty big batch, and because I used such a large package of spinach and not quite enough cream cheese, it was weighted to the spinach side of things. But I like that. I am usually disappointed if I go out and order the spinach artichoke dip, and it's mostly cheese. So, whatever floats your boat. Just be warned. Bring friends (not Will, he won't eat this JUST A GUESS), or cut the recipe in half, and adjust the veggie/cheese ratios to fit your taste.

I may even leave out the artichokes entirely next time, because you can also do that. And artichokes fancy it all up, but they're not my favorite thing to eat, you know?

We ate this with tortilla chips, but I really wanted pita chips, or those round bread crisps. That would have been awesome - but damn, those things are expensive.