Most of the recipes I highlight at feelgood eats are born out of inspiration. Sometimes I’ll have an incredible dish while I am out and about, other times I’ll read about a recipe in a cookbook or food blog, or stumble upon a killer ingredient that has me racing to the kitchen. But this recipe was different. This spinach and artichoke dip was born out of sheer envy.

It all started innocently enough at a mid-afternoon holiday gathering with students, professors, and alums of the graduate school I attended. My contribution was this goat cheese and olive spread, a unique and tasty little dish that I was quite happy with. That is, until I saw the spinach and artichoke dip emerge out of the wholesale club jar and get positioned directly next to my contribution. It was head-to-head, spread vs. spread action, and you can guess how things turned out. For the rest of the afternoon I watched as people went for seconds, thirds, fourths of the wholesale club spread - going on and on about how good it was. It really was no contest at all.

I have to say that I walked out of the party with a little less bounce in my step. I mean, it’s not easy getting beat by an industrial product with a long shelf life. I wasn’t at the point where I wanted to hang up my apron for good, but I did learn something that day - it doesn’t matter how good your food is if you don’t cater to your audience.

I also learned that people go crazy for a spinach and artichoke dip.

So this is one of those “if you can’t beat em, join em” recipes (but I’m pretty sure that my spinach and artichoke dip would kick this wholesaler’s behind). I loaded this dip up with vegetables, adding caramelized onions and carrots to compliment the spinach and artichokes. I substituted a homemade yogurt cheese (super easy to do - check out this post) for cream cheese and cut down on quite a bit of the dairy when compared to other recipes. The result is a more balance spread loaded with vegetables and flavor.

notes on this recipe:

I usually emphasize fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients, but in this recipe I broke the rules a bit and used frozen spinach and artichokes, mainly because of cost and convenience. You can absolutely go fresh, but artichokes aren’t currently in season and fresh spinach will cook down quite a bit.

If you go frozen you’ll want the vegetables to thaw, so throw them in the refrigerator the night before you plan on putting the dip together. One of the keys to this recipe is to drain as much liquid as you can from the spinach. I like to set up a colander in the sink, lay the spinach in it, cover with a towel, and add a heavy weight to press the spinach down, draining for about thirty minutes.

I start this recipe off by caramelizing the onions; this takes a bit of time but I think the results are well worth the effort. If you’re in a time crunch, a simple saute of the onions will also work.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip
(serves 8-10)

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 20 oz. spinach (frozen)
• 9-10 oz. artichoke hearts (frozen)
• 4 medium carrots, shredded
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard (preferably Colemans)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• 1 cup grated grana padano or parmigianno-reggiano (divided)
• 1/2 cup yogurt cheese or cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter has melted and coats the bottom of the pan, add the onions and saute until translucent (stirring frequently), about 3-5 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the onions until they turn a deep brown, stirring occasionally, about 30-40 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, prep the spinach and artichokes by placing them in a colander in the sink. Place a couple of paper towels (or a kitchen towel) over the vegetables and cover with something heavy to weigh it down. Press the vegetables while the onions caramelize so that all of the liquid oozes out; this takes about 20-30 minutes. Place the drained spinach and artichokes on a cutting board and roughly chop into small bite size pieces (you don’t want the spinach to be too stringy).

Preheat the oven to 365F.

When the onions are done, turn the heat back to medium-high and add the spinach, artichokes, carrots, garlic, a pinch of sea salt, a crank of fresh ground pepper, and the dry mustard. Cook until the vegetables are soft and well incorporated, stirring frequently, about 8-10 minutes. Add the grated mozzarella, 3/4 cup grana padano or parmigianno-reggiano, yogurt cheese or cream cheese, and sour cream. Stir until everything is combined and the cheese begins to melt.

Grease a baking dish (you’ll want to use one that is long enough so that the filling is only about an inch deep or so). Add the vegetable and cheese mixture and sprinkle with the remaining grana padano or parmigianno-reggiano. Bake until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Serve with crostini, crackers, or toasted pita chips.

more dip options:

101 Cookbooks: Baked Artichoke Dip

Kalyn’s Kitchen: White Bean & Artichoke Dip

Saveur: Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Food & Wine: Roasted Artichoke, Lemon & Garlic Dip

Gourmet: Hot Crab & Artichoke Dip

Tagged as: dressings & spreads, parties, small bites

 Print This Recipe