You can make all the Popeye jokes you like, but spinach is great isn't it? You can just stir it in to pasta, whizz it up into a smoothie, bulk out a salad, serve it wilted with garlic on the side of steak, whatever. Basically, it's your friend when there's not much in the fridge but you need to get your daily dose of green goodness.
When we met a friend for cocktails and a bite to eat at The Chester in the Meatpacking District in NYC a few weeks ago (as an aside, somewhere I'd really recommend), she introduced us to a classic American way to enjoy spinach that neither Ben or I had ever heard of - Spinach and Artichoke Dip.
I had a bit of a Google, and I couldn't really find where this originated - guesses have ranged from the Mediterranean, to further towards the Middle East, to America itself. Who knows? Who cares!? I absolutely loved it, it was hot and cheesy, and served with a toasted baguette it was the perfect accompaniment to our cocktails. I knew I had to try and recreate it when I got home, but recreating it wasn't that easy; it appears every American with a blog has their own version of it. So I took inspiration from all of them, and went for my own little recipe.
I'll be honest, it doesn't taste exactly like what we had when we were away, but it did taste pretty good! Ben, my Mum and I enjoyed it between us for lunch with some garlic bread, but it could easily be a sharing starter for an evening meal.
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
280g Spinach
400g Artichoke Hearts (one tin, drained and chopped)
1 cup of Cheese (grated, I used cheddar, approx 100g)
1/2 cup of Sour Cream (approx 115g)
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise (approx 115g)
2 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)
Okay I know, it's mainly in cups, and that's a pain if you're in the UK, but it's what alllllll the recipes I looked at were in. I have a lovely set of cup measures, so I stuck with cups, but I have included approximate conversions to grams, but they come with a warning. Whenever I convert to grams from cups, it goes so wrong. I always get confused, and double something or half something. So my advice is to invest in some cheap cups.
So. On with the instructions - it couldn't be easier!
1. Mix the mayo, sour cream, crushed garlic and 3/4 of the cheese together. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Stir into the spinach.
3. Squeeeeeeze as much of the liquid out of artichoke hearts as you can, then add them into the mix.
4. Pop into a large oven proof dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
5. Bake for thirty minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown on top.
6. Serve with garlic bread, pitta, tortilla chips, whatever you fancy.
Yum! What a great way to get a good dose of spinach - and cheese ;) I really need to buy me some cups, I think I'm going crazy every time I have to measure up 2.37 dl of something; it's not exactly exact science :) thanks for sharing your recipe!
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Camilla
I love spinach and I love artichokes. Never had them as a dip, though. Sounds good to me! :)
ReplyDeleteI really love the taste of artichokes so this is right up my street. I cant say that I have tried this dip before but sounds lovely Lucy x
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