I have to be honest, here.
This was not one of my favorites; though my husband quite liked it.
It was, however, a thing of beauty, I think, coming out of the oven and would have had dinner guests going “oooh!” and “ahhh!” – if we were having dinner guests at this time – when presented at table.
That fact, the sheer nice-looking-ness of it, and the fact that I think I can fix it, means
that, I shall try again.
The issue, I think, is a lack of seasoning. I did use Medianoche Mayonnaise instead of plain, and added black and Aleppo pepper, as well as my old faithful Sherry Peppers Sauce to the original recipe, and topped it all off with chopped chives but, something was still missing.
Salt, I think. And no doubt a teaspoon or two of hot sauce. In any event, here’s the beginnings of what will, eventually be a pretty terrific feast day side dish…
INGREDIENTS
As I made it:
•8-oz cream cheese, softened
•4 tbsp butter, softened
•2 tbsp mayonnaise
•3/8 cup milk
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained
•2 (10-oz) packages frozen chopped
spinach, thawed and drained
•1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•Chopped fresh chives
Adding next time (you should, too):
•1 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Heat your oven to 350º and lightly butter a two quart casserole.
Cream the softened cream cheese, butter, mayonnaise, Sherry Peppers Sauce, Seasoned Salt, hot sauce, and black and Aleppo pepper together in a mixing bowl until fluffy and nicely blended.
Cut the artichoke hearts in half, then arrange in the bottom of the casserole.
Top with the thawed, drained, and squeezed spinach, then spread the cream cheese mixture evenly across the top.
Sprinkle the Parmesan over all, then top with the chives and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
Allow to rest for ten minutes before serving. We had ours with a Snoop Dogg Ham, mashed potatoes, and Everything spiral rolls for Easter dinner, and it was nice.
Just could be a bit better.