Warm Spinach Mascarpone Dip

Forget the sour cream.

Forget the cream cheese.

Spinach dip made with mascarpone cheese

pronounced mas-car-pone)

is an absolute winner!

Lighter (texture…sorry…not in calories) and I bet you’ll love it.

Warm Spinach Mascarpone Dip

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yields 2 cups

I like to serve the spinach dip with sliced french bread, celery sticks or warmed pita bread triangles.

Ingredients:

16 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

1 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated if you have)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Take a handful of the defrosted spinach and squeeze and discard the water from the spinach. Squeeze as much of the water out as you can, you should get about a little less than a cup of spinach water.

3. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil and swirl to coat. Add the onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes (take your time, if you do this over high heat, the onions will burn and become bitter). Add the spinach and saute until the spinach is warm, but still bright green about 30 seconds.

4. Season and toss with salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Turn off the heat and stir in the mascarpone cheese and the grated parmesan.

5. Pour into 2 small oven-safe dishes and bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm with pita chips, bread or celery sticks.

Find Everything you need at Harter House and Harter House World Flavors.