Artichoke Dip with a Lemon Twist

I’ve tasted many versions of artichoke dip. I’ve made some, had some at parties and even ordered it in restaurants as a shared appetizer. I’d never come across a recipe that also incorporated lemon into the dip… it intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try.

This recipe was from the same Creative Slow Cooker Magazine that the pizza dip came from. Little did I know that I’d need a second job to pay for the ingredients. O.k., maybe a slight exaggeration, but when you throw good Gruyère, organic cream cheese, high quality sour cream, Acme bread and jars of artichoke hearts into the cart, it sure adds up quickly.

I did end up changing some of the ingredient measurements (added way more lemon and cheese and used a different mustard – reflected in the recipe below) and I didn’t use the crock pot to heat it because I’m a rebel like that.

The Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Cup Fresh Mushrooms – Chopped
1/4 Cup Red Pepper – Chopped
3 Tablespoons Shallot – Finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic – Minced
1 8-ounce Carton of Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese
2 Teaspoons Lemon Peel – Finely shredded
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed
1 Tablespoon Sierra Nevada Spicy Brown Porter Mustard – Any brown or Dijon-style mustard would work
3 6-ounce Jars of Marinated Artichoke Hearts – Drained and coarsely chopped
1 Heaping Cup Gruyère – Shredded – Could also use Swiss
1 Baguette – you can toast it or not – I served it both ways

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. In a medium to large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, mushrooms and red pepper. Cook mixture until pepper and shallot are tender, stirring frequently.
3. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, cream cheese, lemon peel, lemon juice and mustard. Stir in mushroom mixture, artichoke hearts and Gruyère cheese.
4. Spoon mixture into a shallow casserole dish.
5. Cover with foil and heat in oven for 25-30 minutes or until heated throughout. (If using a crock pot, cook on low-heat setting for 2-2.5 hours or until heated through.
6. Stir before serving with baguette slices or pita chips.

Makes 32 (2 Tablespoon) Servings

I got all of my chopped items into the pan with olive oil.

As the veggies cooked, I filled my medium bowl with the sour cream, cream cheese (I used full fat, but am sure you could substitute with lighter versions) lemon peel, lemon juice and mustard. I stirred everything together and then added the cooked mushroom mixture, artichoke hearts and Gruyère cheese.

Wow… back away from the bowl/food Foo… way too close with the camera, sorry about that. I once again got everything mixed together and then I transferred the contents to my baking dish.

I popped my dish into the oven and let it bubble away…

I transferred it (just for photos) into a deeper glass bowl – it went right back into the shallow dish before the party…

This dip was awesome! I loved the hint of lemon flavor combined with the creamy Gruyère – I may or may not have added a bunch more Gruyère to the top of the dish before putting it back into the oven to reheat.

Oh. Yes. I. Did.

So great, now I’m craving appetizers for dinner…