Easy Hot Artichoke Dip

I had some friends over last week and had the whole menu planned out – mushroom quiches, mustard and thyme baked brie, white & red sangria, cake pops (more on that later) etc.  Then I realized – wait a minute – there’s no dip!

See – when us ladies get together – we gotta have us some dip.

I went into the overstocked pantry closet looking for some inspiration.  A  can of artichokes caught my eye – actually, they kind of fell off the shelf and almost hit my foot - but, nonetheless...

So, I threw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and an artichoke dip was born.  Brings a tear to my eye. I'm such a proud Momma.

The girls asked me for the recipe and I told them I just kind of winged it, threw in some cheese, mayo, etc.  They stared blankly so I told them I promised I would forward the recipe. 

Since I wanted to get all my measurements and whatnot correct, I suffered through and made the dip again for Mike on Saturday afternoon.  Poor guy - such a tough time he has testing all my recipes.

Uh, yeah.

Anyway....

Here is what you need:

1 can artichoke hearts

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

¼ cup Provolone cheese, shredded

¼ cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 large clove or 2 small cloves minced garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

4 dashes your choice of hot sauce

Here is what you do:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Drain the artichokes and chop them finely.  Or chop them chunky – they are your artichokes and it’s your dip so cut them to whatever consistency you like.

In medium bowl, mix together mayo, shredded cheeses (reserve about a Tablespoon of Parmesan to sprinkle over the top of the dip), minced garlic and salt and pepper.  I added 4 dashes of Tabasco – if you like it spicier – add some more.  If you don’t like it spicy – leave it out.  Your choice.

Toss in artichokes.  Pour the dip into an oven safe casserole dish like I have pictured below and sprinkel the reserved Parmesan cheese over the top.

Or, you can bake the dip in a hollowed out beer bread or large round bread – like a sourdough or pumpernickel loaf.   I did this for the party.  Unfortunately, we housed the whole thing before I could get a picture!

Bake the dip in the 375 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until it is heated through and bubbly around the edges. 

Look at that creamy, cheesy goodness.  Luscious and sexy - as any dip should be.

With this dip, feel free to get creative.  You can add some chopped scallions or onion if you’d like.  You can also squeeze a bit of lemon juice in  to give it a little fresh acidity.  You can substitute any number of cheeses.  Remember – make it your own and add what you like.

Oh, and I wanted to give a big thank you to Caron for the wine.  She knows I like my cute labels!

That guy has a lot of guts - not only is he running with scissors, but he's doing it naked.  I love it!

Go buy the wine, make the artichoke dip, have a fabulous night.  But please, do not run with the bottle - you might spill some.  And that, truly, would be a tragedy.