Friday 8 March 2013

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

Holy CRAP you guys.

Holy. CRAP.

Now, generally, one does not start a post about food using the word crap.  And in all caps nonetheless.

But I'm wordless, speechless, and over the MOON for this awesome appetizer.

When I came across Jenny's blog a couple of years ago, I knew I would find a plethora of "picky eater" recipes.

It only made sense as the name of her blog is Picky Palate.

And when she posted this particular recipe, I knew she'd totally struck gold.

Cheesy, spinachy, delicious gold that is.

So, a few weeks ago, I made this for my Mom's birthday and fed it to her, my Dad, my brother, my niece, and my cousin Dallas...

You know what?  They're STILL talking about it.

However, I was too busy playing hostess to really do what I needed to do to post this sooner.  And when I casually mentioned to my Mom that I had to make it again, she practically LEAPED through the phone with utter excitement.

Since she only got one the first time around.

And on an overnight trip to visit my parental units - I made it again.

I might casually mention here (as I generally do), that - yet again - I couldn't get one of the ingredients as recommended.  Because I'm in Canada.

So I improvised with a tube of Pillsbury pizza dough.  (pssst, I don't think anyone noticed or minded)


I'm going to make a little change to the procedure here.  Not that Jenny's way isn't perfect (because it totally is, I just thought I would like this way a little better).

To start, heat some olive oil over medium heat and toss in the chopped spinach.


Add the garlic to the now wilted spinach, stir together, and cook for about one more minute and remove from heat.


In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese,


with the sour cream,


the chile poweder (I think I should note here that I only used half 1/8 teaspoon chile powder - I didn't want it TOO spicy), garlic salt, salt, and pepper,


the Parmesan cheese, and mix well.


Okay - so this IS the order that Jenny recommends doing the filling in.  The second time I made this - I made this in a different order and added the spinach when it was really hot from the pan and it created a soupy mess.  Although it turned out fine in the end.  So I guess I'm just being a crazy person.  Let's just do this Jenny's way - no messing about.

Then add the spinach and garlic and mix together until well combined.


See how weird it looks?

Moving along.

Spray a cupcake pan with non-stick spray.

Open the tube of dough, but don't roll it out.  And try not to almost rip it in half like I did.


Then slice it into 10 equal pieces.


Flatten out each piece to as close to a 3-inch circle as you can get it.


Then press each piece into the well of a cupcake pan.  Or muffin tin if you so prefer.


I found that when I did this part first, by the time I went to fill the dough cups I kind of had to smoosh them down a little bit.

But maybe that's the point?  I have no idea.

Divide the spinach mixture evenly amongst the little dough cups.  I used a medium-smallish cookie scoop.  It's not the smallest you can get - I might call it medium, but honestly, I have no idea what size it is. 


After all the cups were filled, I still had a little dip left over so I just eyeballed dividing the leftovers between the 10 cups.


Top with grated mozzarella, pop into a preheated oven, and bake for 15 - 17 minutes.  I turned mine about halfway through.


Although it may have been an auto-response because the cupcake pan was in there and I always turn the pan halfway through when I'm baking cupcakes.

I'm built that way.

Jenny's recipe says to remove the pan when the bread bowls are turning brown on the edges, but I found it a little hard to tell, so I just pulled them out after 17 minutes.  I figured they HAD to be done.

Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan.  I would let them sit around for about 5 or 10 minutes so you don't burn your tongue, the top of your mouth, and the upper part of your esophagus when you bite into them. 


Seriously.  Aren't these awesome?  And adorable?  And the perfect appie for a big group dinner, sporting event, or random Friday night?


You must make these immediately. 


Race right over to Jenny's blog for the recipe.  Do it now.

You'll thank me later.


You're welcome.

xoxo - the Cane girl.

1 comment:

  1. How come we can't find anything in Canada? Is it because it is too big? lol...seriously. pilsbury with no added perservatives? We don't have that and not fair....the look AMAZING. I'm pretty sure I tried to eat one and hit my face.

    ReplyDelete