Crispy Spinach-Artichoke Dip Cheese Sticks

Crispy Spinach-Artichoke Dip Cheese Sticks

A duo of cheese sticks? Sign me up. I already went into my whole secret technique to awesome cheese sticks in the previous post. So, I'll spare you the repetition. But these are certainly just as special. Spinach-Artichoke Dip is my all-time favorite dip. Especially my favorite recipe, Crazy-Good Spinach-Artichoke Dip. You can use this recipe or one of your own, or you could just be lazy and grab a batch of store-bought dip. Do whatever floats your boat. However, the most important steps are that you completely freeze the dip and keep them chilled throughout the process because it can be messy to work with if it starts to melt. The egg roll wrappers are crucial for keeping these together. They really seal in all the cheesy goodness. And also, what's better than hand-held, pop-in-your-mouth spinach-artichoke dip? Perfect for football party y'all... I guarantee it!! Enjoy :)

I mean, how crispy do those look? The perfect breading!

For the Spinach-Artichoke Cheese Sticks:

Your Favorite Spinach Artichoke Dip (I used my Crazy-Good Spinach-Artichoke Dip Recipe)

Egg Roll Wrappers

For the Crispy Italian Breading:

2C AP Flour

Salt & Pepper

3 Eggs

½C Buttermilk

1T Hot Sauce

Italian Style Panko Breadcrumbs (or regular Panko can be substituted)

Salt, For Sprinkling

Canola Oil, For Frying

Directions:

1. Preparing the Spinach-Artichoke Dip Sticks: Make your favorite recipe for Spinach-Artichoke Dip (or you can use store-bought). If you do make it homemade, make sure to refrigerate completely until chilled and set in texture. Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. After the dip has chilled, spoon it into the prepared loaf pan in an even, thick layer and freeze. Once the dip is completely frozen, remove the block of dip from the tin foil and cut into mozzarella stick-sized sticks. Keep them frozen as you bread them.   

2. Assembling the Pizza Sticks: On top of an egg roll wrapper, place one frozen spinach-artichoke stick and fold over the corners the sticks and keep rolling until it is tightly wrapped. Moisten the corners with water to seal. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers and spinach-artichoke sticks. Freeze until you are ready to bread. Next, you have to set up a battering station. I use 3 pie tins. For the first station, I mix the flour, salt, and pepper. For the second station, I whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and hot sauce. For the third station, pour the contents of one box of Italian Style Panko breadcrumbs. Now, place the wrapped sticks into the flour mixture, then into the egg wash, and finally the panko (making sure they are completely covered). Put the breaded sticks on a tin foil-lined baking sheet with a cooling rack on top, and then put the pan into the freezer and keep chilled until all of them have been breaded.

3. Frying the Pizza Sticks: Heat your deep fryer to 350 degrees with the oil. Once the oil has heated, pull the sticks out of the refrigerator. Fry the slices for 5-8 minutes each or until golden brown and crispy on the outside, but making sure the dip has melted on the inside. Once they are done frying return them to the same baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt immediately.

4. Keep immediately while hot.

Soup Sunday: Sherried Italian Tomato Soup with Sausage, Spinach, & Tortellini

Now that fall is headin' our way, I'm going to be making soup about once a week. Mainly because we both love soup a lot, so why not have it every week? Well, when were at the grocery store this week, I couldn't quite decide on what soup to make for this first week of Soup Sunday's... my Mountain Man wanted a hearty Italian soup and I wanted creamy tomato. We agreed to marry these two soups together to suit both of our tastes. This soup is substantial & super filling (I mean we're bustin' at the seams right now). I made a creamy tomato soup with sherry and basil, and then added in four cheese tortellini, italian sausage, sun dried tomatoes, and sauteed spinach. At first, I really wanted to make homemade tortellini, but I got lazy and decided to buy store-bought, but if you're feeling extra motivated then definitely go for it! This soup is sweet, spicy, creamy, & hearty. It's really like a meal in a bowl. And it definitely was everything that we were craving for our first soup recipe of the fall. Coming up next for Soup Sunday is Homemade Chicken & Noodle Soup! Enjoy :)

Sherried Italian Tomato Soup with Sausage, Spinach, & Tortellini

Always garnish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

For the Sherried Tomato Soup:

6T Melted Butter

1 Whole Sweet Onion, Diced

1T Garlic, Minced

1 46oz Bottle of Tomato Juice

2 14oz Cans of Diced Tomatoes

1T Chicken Base

3-6T Sugar

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

¼t Dried Oregano & Red Pepper Flakes

Chopped Fresh Basil (to your liking)

1C Cooking Sherry

1 ½C Heavy Cream

2 Packages of 4 Cheese Tortellini, Cooked (I used store-bought)

5 Italian-Style Sausages Cut into Bite-Size Cubes

2C Baby Spinach, Wilted

1C Sun Dried Tomatoes, Julienned

Freshly Grated Parmesan, For Garnish

Directions:

1. Sauté the diced onions and garlic in the butter until translucent, and then add the canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, seasonings, & fresh basil. Stir to combine. Bring the pot to a near boil, and then turn off the heat. Puree with an immersion blender, and then stir in the sherry and heavy cream. Return the pot back to medium heat and add in the cooked tortellini, chopped Italian sausage, wilted spinach, and sun dried tomatoes. Cook on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Once the soup has cooked, season with salt and pepper to your liking. 
2. Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with fresh basil and some grated Parmesan cheese, and enjoy it while it's hot!

source: sherried tomato soup. 

Mini Spinach-Artichoke Dip Bread Bowls

I made one of my favorite dips ever, Crazy-Good Spinach-Artichoke Dip, a little while ago, and had a bunch left over. So I decided to use the leftovers to make another easy tailgatin' appetizer. You don't necessarily have to use my recipe (but I love my recipe so much that I think you should, haha), but you could use whatever you have left over or a recipe that you love. Pretty much all you have to do it scoop some of your spinach drip into bread dough that has been pressed into muffin tins, and then top it with shredded mozzarella cheese, and just pop it in the oven. I really loved these bread bowls and they are just so darn stinkin' easy to make! Enjoy :)

Mini Spinach-Artichoke Dip Bread Bowls

For the Mini Bread Bowls:

2 Cans of French Bread Loaf Dough

Your Favorite Spinach-Artichoke Dip, For Filling

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, For Topping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffin cups with Pam and set aside. Unroll the packages of the French bread and slice each into 12 equal size squares, about 1 inch thick. Press each slice into the prepared muffin tins. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop the spinach-artichoke dip filling into the centers of the bread bowls. Top the bowls with some shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until just turning brown on the edges.
2. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for 3-5 minutes before eating.
3. Enjoy!

Crazy-Good Spinach-Artichoke Dip

One of my favorite appetizers has got to be Spinach-Artichoke Dip. It's just so good. Even people who don't like spinach, love spinach-artichoke dip. Well, over the years, I have had a hard time finding a recipe that I really loved. Some weren't creamy enough... some were too creamy. I wanted a complex dip, but simple enough that it was easy to make. And this recipe is a little more than just throwing everything in a bowl and mixing it together, but that's okay because the extra steps are worth it. I finally developed this recipe and have tweaked it enough that I think that it's perfect for me. I've made it a few times and I always get really good feedback. What makes my Spinach-Artichoke Dip "crazy-good" is that I make a roux and then fold it into a cream cheese-mayo-sour cream-cheese mixture (most dips don't include a roux). You can either make this dip right before you want to eat it or make it a day or two before and just pop it into the oven when you need it. I typically serve it with tortilla chips, but I have served it with toasted bread as well! Enjoy :)

Crazy-Good Spinach-Artichoke Dip

For the Spinach-Artichoke Dip:

2 10oz Boxes of Frozen Spinach, Chopped & Strained of Liquid

1T Unsalted Butter

2T Onion, Minced

2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

1T AP Flour

1t Garlic Salt

1t Chili Powder

¼t Cayenne

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

1 ¼C Whole Milk

1t Lemon Juice

1t Worcestershire

1 ¼C Parmesan Cheese, Grated

¼C Sour Cream

¼C Mayo

1 8oz Block of Cream Cheese, Softened

8oz Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

1 14oz Can of Artichoke Hearts, Squeezed Dry & Roughly Chopped (I used a little more)

1C Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish, and set it aside.   

2. For the Spinach Artichoke Dip: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the flour & seasonings, and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice, Worcestershire, and 1C Parmesan until blended. And then return the pot to medium heat and add the spinach and cheddar until the cheese melts and the dip is heated through. In a mixing bowl, beat together the sour cream, mayo, artichokes, and cream cheese until well combined. Once combined, mix in the warm spinach mixture into the blended cream cheese mixture.   

3. Once combined, add the spinach dip into a buttered baking dish and cover the top with the shredded mozzarella cheese and the remaining Parmesan cheese, and then cover with tin foil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, remove the foil, and then bake for another 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly (I like to broil mine a little to get that extra golden topping).

4. Serve immediately with chips or toasted bread.     

Spinach Artichoke Bread

Hello all and Happy St. Patty's Day here from Savannah! It was a crazy celebration, and I'm already counting down the days until next year's celebration! Here are a couple pictures from our crazy day :)

Me and the boyfriend :)

Good Luck Irish Kisses 

Anyway, we made a lot of food this week, since I had about 10 people staying at my apartment. But one appetizer we made was Spinach Artichoke Bread. It's practically spinach artichoke dip on top of crusty delicious bread, and its just melty-goodness for reals! Anyway I hope you enjoy it, and it's super good for a party!!

Spinach Artichoke Bread 

For the Bread:

1 Italian Loaf of Bread, Sliced in Half Lengthwise

1C Artichokes, Chopped

1 10oz Box of Frozen Chopped Spinach, Defrosted and Squeezed

1T Garlic, Chopped

½ Block of Cream Cheese, Softened

¼C Mayo

½C Sour Cream

½C Mozzarella, Shredded

¼C Parmesan, Grated

¼t Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Topping:

1 ½C Mozzarella, Shredded

¼C Parmesan, Grated

½t Garlic Salt

Directions:

1. Mix together the cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream until it is a blended mixture. Then add the artichokes, spinach, garlic, mozzarella, parmesan, and seasonings.

2. Once the mixture is incorporated, spread it on to the two slices of the bread until there is a thick layer. Then top it with the cheeses and seasonings. Place on the baking sheet.

3. Bake 350 for about 20 minutes, then broil the bread just until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

4. Cut into thick slices and serve immediately!

source: artichoke bread