Bread bowl spinach dip

While some people are opposed to appetizers at thanksgiving, I say the more the merrier. Especially when it’s a warm, cheesy dip inside a bread bowl on a cold fall evening.

I’m in love with this dip because it’s reminiscent of cheese fondue. There are similarities, like the bread cubes used to dip in and the warm cheese dip. Personally, I like to add fried herbs on top - especially ones that are perfect for the holidays, like thyme and parsley.

This creamy spinach dip with white cheddar and mozzarella is baked until golden and bubbling inside a bread bowl. Use the bread from inside to dip in and get that super stretchy cheese pull everytime!

Ingredients:

1 round sourdough loaf

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, grated

300g spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mozzarella, grated

1 cup white cheddar, grated (buy a nice block & grate it!)

pinch of salt and black pepper

Garnish:

handful of fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary

neutral oil to fry

Method:

Slice the bread: preheat oven to 175C/350F. Cut a small slice off the top of a round loaf. Trace a circle inside the loaf using a knife. Using your hands, remove the bread inside the circle. Cut the bread that you removed from inside into cubes to dip into the cheesy dip.

Toast the cubes: scatter the bread cubes on a baking sheet evenly spread apart from one another and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat and bake for 10-15 mins or until slightly crunchy but not entirely as hard as a crouton.

Fry herbs: heat a large fry pan over medium heat and add enough neutral oil to coat the bottom of the pan very lightly. If you rinsed the herbs, make sure to pat them very, very dry. Wait until the oil is very hot, but not smoking hot. Drop the herbs into the hot oil (be careful of splatter) and make sure they are evenly dispersed. Remove onto a paper towel lined plate after 2-3 minutes or so, or once they are crispy and bright green. Discard of any excess oil, leaving behind about 1 tbsp, and turn the heat down to low.

Wilt the spinach: add grated garlic to the pan and saute on low heat. After 2-3 mins, add spinach and saute as it wilts and turns into a handful of cooked spinach. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and make sure to cook off any liquid from the spinach.

Add cheeses: once the spinach is all the way cooked down, add cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, half the amount of cheddar and another pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until combined, melted and creamy.

Bake: pour the spinach dip into the bread bowl and top with the other half of cheddar, letting some overflow onto the bread. Place on a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven once the bread and cheese are golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before handling.

Assemble: transfer the bread bowl to a large serving platter and surround it with the bread cubes. Garnish with fried herbs, breaking some herbs apart and off the stem for easy dipping and enjoy while warm.