The dish you’re looking at began as a Weight Watchers recipe. Cheese, cream cheese and…well…more cheese are the players in a recipe that someone handed my mother and said “Look! 2 points per serving!”

Now, I doubt this dip is 2 points per serving when you eat it heaping spoon after heaping spoon. And you will. People don’t just eat a taste of this. Because why would you merely sample piping hot, creamy spinach dip (spinach! vegetables! healthy!).

This is a great dish to make during a sporting event because you can make a big batch of it and serve it with crusty bread or crackers. With football season in full swing and the baseball World Series set to takeover prime time television, you can never have too many game day recipes. Whether you’re partial to baked brie, fresh hummus or traditional football fare like buffalo wings and pizza, you’ll be hard pressed not to enjoy this.

Unless you don’t like spinach. Or artichokes. Or you’re lactose intolerant. But for everyone else, no excuses.

Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Serves 16

What You Need:

8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
8 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup far-free or reduced-fat sour cream
1 15-ounce can artichoke hearts, rinsed and roughly quartered
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of excess moisture
1/2 cup parmigiana reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

How-To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine first six ingredients by hand (with a wooden spoon, although mixing with clean hands can be just as efficient too).

2. Add 1/4 cup of parmigiana cheese and spread dip into a baking dish. I usually use a Pyrex baking dish but an oven-safe bowl or dutch oven works too. Top with the rest of the parmigiana. Bake 40-45 minutes or until cheese on top is brown and bubbly.

3. Serve with crackers, crusty bread or crudite.

Tagged as: artichoke dip, hot spinach dip, spinach artichoke dip, spinach dip