Saturday, September 17, 2011

Creamy Basil and Artichoke Dip





This is a variation of my famous (ok, not really, but one day maybe) creamy artichoke dip. I was heading over to my brother John’s house for a barbeque the other night and I knew just what to make. I had some fresh basil and tomatoes just begging to be used so I came up with a little variation on my classic recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.

If you would like my classic recipe, you can search  for it under the key word "artichoke".
P.S. Please excue the blurry picture. All I had was my camera phone at the time.

Prep time: 10 minutes:

Cook time: 20-25 minutes

Serves: 6-8 appetizers

 Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 8 ounce package cream cheese - softened

4-5 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1 15 ounce can artichoke hearts - drained and chopped

2 table spoons fresh basil – finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 roma tomatoes – thinly sliced

Olive oil
1 loaf of italian bread cut into 1/2 thick slices and, or corn chips to serve with the dip

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400. Coat a 9x9 baking dish with oil or cooking spray - set aside. In a large bowl blend cream cheese and mayonnaise together until creamy. Mix in parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until well blended. Add artichoke hearts and 1 ½ tbs of basil. Mix well until artichoke hearts are broken up and blended in. Mixture should be about the consistency of soft oatmeal.  If mixture seems to moist, add more parmesan cheese. If mixture is too dry, add in a little more mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread mixture into baking dish. Bake for about 15 minutes, remove from oven. Place tomato slices neatly over the top. Place back in oven and bake another 5-7 minutes until edges of dip are golden brown and bubbly. Remove from oven, drizzle with a little ovlive oil and top with remaining basil.


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