Hot dip for friends

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
I've been making my own version of spinach and artichoke dip for a while, and am happy to finally "catalog" this one. I was lucky enough to enjoy this yesterday with some great friends (love you Amy and Janelle!). Best served with a good dose of laughter and of course gossip :)

Where the recipe came from
My "base" recipe for this came about a long time ago from a free recipe book I received with a bottle of Classico Alfredo sauce. You know...the super healthy white jar of butter, cream and cheese (that somehow doesn't good bad on the shelf?) I'm happy to say this recipe has definitely slimmed down (but certainly not a "health food" by any stretch of the imagination.

Making the dip
When I started making this yesterday, I burned the garlic. If you've ever done this, you know that it instantly changes the wonderful garlic and oil smell to something super bitter.

So I cooled it down, washed out the pan and started over. If it smells that bad, it can't taste good, right? The other change I made to previous versions was that I added sour cream. Why this brainwave never occurred before, I'm not sure - but it works!

The recipe
3-4 tbsp olive oil divided
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup half and half (I use the reduced fat version, but you could also go fat free, full fat, milk would probably work too)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
dash crushed red pepper (you could omit)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can artichokes, drained and rough chopped
1 box frozen spinach, defrosted (put the spinach in a towel and squeeze to remove all water)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup sour cream (I used reduced fat)
3/4 breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over med heat in large skillet, add diced garlic. Cook about a minute until garlic starts to sizzle. Add flour, stirring. Let cook 2-3 minutes.

Add half and half, stirring. Add basil, oregano, red pepper, salt and pepper. Crank heat to med high and bring to a boil. Let boil 3-5 minutes until sauce starts to get thick.

Add spinach, artichokes, parmesan cheese and sour cream. Put heat back down to med, stir and let heat through.

Put dip into a 8" square baking dish or hollowed out bread bowl. (I dried my bread bowl out in the oven for about 15 minutes before I put the dip in. I was thinking it would create a better "barrier" so the dip wouldn't seep through as much. The dip held up fine in the bread bowl, but I have no idea if putting it in the oven ahead of time did anything) Mix remaining olive oil with breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Serve warm with bread chunks, tortilla chips, veggies, etc.

Because I was feeling "over-achiever" yesterday, I made my own breadcrumbs from the bread I removed from the bread bowl (my husband was slightly upset that there was no bread for snacking). In case your interested, I put the bread pieces in the Cuisinart to "crumb the bread" (Brett's term). Mixed it with 1 tbsp garlic flakes, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano and salt and pepper. I spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 400 for 10-15 minutes until they hardened up.

Happy snacking!