Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip - great for parties

I was going to Host a Post Christmas Holiday Party and decided to make some Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip for the party and have it warming in one of my fondue pots with some veggies and crackers for dipping.  But of course I messed up a on a couple of things but luckily one of them wasn't the actual spinach dip.   I had a couple of coupons from Cookin Greens for a couple of packages of Free Greens so I thought that would be perfect to use for my potluck party so that it I could save a little money on the party ingredients.   Well forgetful me went to the store and picked up 2 packages of spinach and got to the checkout and forgot to take the coupons out of my purse.   They expire at the end of the month so I guess I have to do a return to the grocery store and pick up another 2 bags of greens before New Year's.   Maybe I will make another batch for New Year's Eve.

The other thing I messed up was that I heated up half of  the Spinach dip in a Ceramic Dish in the Oven and then transferred it to the fondue pot and then placed the dish in the sink when it cooled.    Then a while later the sink was piled full of dishes and someone wanted more spinach dip so I had to grab another ceramic dish to heat up some more of the dip.   Add another dish to pile up in the sink.   My tip,  if you use a container to heat something up and you know you have more left... either keep the dish to the side or wash it right away and ready for another round.   I wasn't that organized so I had more dishes to wash than I needed to.

But the Spinach Artichoke Dip was a real hit.   Here's how I made it:

1 Bag of Cookin Greens Frozen Spinach     

1/2 jar of Artichoke hearts

2 tbsps sour cream

2 tbsp mayonaise

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

pinch of chili flakes

1 ball of Buffalo mozzarella cut up in chunks

*optional, parsley and nutmeg

Directions:

Cook the spinach greens in a pot of boiling water and strain the spinach, making sure that you drain most of the water.

Place the spinach in a large bowl and add the half a jar of Artichoke hearts, approx. 1/2 a cup or so.   Make sure the artichokes are drained as well.   Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, cheeses and spices.  

Mix all ingredients and place into a ceramic or heat proof dish and place in the oven at 350 degrees and heat until slightly browned on top.  Approximately 20-30 minutes depending on how hot your oven is.   You can also microwave it but you won't get the browning on top.

Transfer to a fondue pot and serve with Crackers, Bread, Dipping vegetables or whatever you like.

What makes it really easy to make is that the Cookin greens area already washed and chopped and just need to be slightly cooked so it saves a lot of time compared to making it with fresh spinach.  You could probably also just defrost the cooking greens and drain and just mix it with the ingredients and just cook it in the oven a bit longer if you don't want to take the extra step of boiling it first.

You can adjust the flavourings and spice it up how you like it.   Experiment with the cheeses even.  

It's a great dish for a Party so try it at you next party event.