Cheesy Spinach, Bacon & Onion Dip

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with lots of delectable things to eat with lots of lovely people to share it with 🙂 So speaking of sharing it’s now the holidays and time for BBQ’s and getting together with friends and family. I have a recipe here that’s perfect for sharing, a thick and creamy, cheesy. bacon, spinach and onion dip, served warm and delicious lavishly spread on crackers, chips (crisps), crostini and/or bruschetta.

This is a recipe my oldest friend shared with me. It’s so good and a hit at parties. It’s also one of those dishes that you are a bit reluctant to share (oh hang on, that might just be me)…….it’s that good! It’s made with very naughty things and if that wasn’t bad enough it’s served with a lot of bread! So if you’ve been eating healthy lately you’ll be good to go, but If you are struggling to behave (story o my life) I’m warning you, you just can’t have ‘just a little bit’ of this, it just won’t let you!  🙂

INGREDIENTS

Vegetarian – Simply omit the bacon. I would also add another 250 grams of spinach and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt with the cracked pepper.

Note* If I have to wilt spinach I prefer not to use baby spinach as there is not a lot of leaf and it ends up just a pile of little stalks so I use arrowhead as it has a large leaf.

WALKTHROUGH

First place the cream cheese and the onion soup mix into a large bowl and leave it out on the bench so that the cream cheese can soften a bit.

Next place the streaky bacon under a medium grill and grill both sides until it’s just turning crispy. Roughly chop it up into small pieces and then add it to the cream cheese bowl (no need to mix it in yet).

Note*  If you are not using streaky bacon and it has rind, cook it until the rind is crispy and if it hasn’t crisped up nicely it might pay to pull all of the rind off as it is a bit chewy.

To prepare the spinach…..isn’t it beautiful…..

……pluck the leaves from the stems and give them a wee wash in a sink of clean, cold water. Then place them in a bowl and totally cover them with boiling water.

After 30 seconds remove them and place the leaves into a sieve or a colander and run cold water over them until they have cooled down and then with nice clean hands (as if….us bakers always have clean hands!) gently squeeze all of the water out until you have a nice little mound of moist spinach. Then place into a clean tea towel and……

…….gently squeeze out any remaining water.

Next thinly slice it up and add to the bowl with the cream cheese, bacon and onion soup mix (no need to mix it in yet).

Time to saute the onion and the garlic. So finely dice the onion and set it aside. Now peel the garlic and finely dice it, leaving it on your board for now.

Now place a small frying pan over a medium heat and add to it the cooking oil and the butter. When they start to bubble add the onion and stirring often, cook for three minutes or until the onion is soft, then add the garlic and cook for one more minute. When done add both to the cream cheese bowl.

Also adding in the grated cheese and the black cracked pepper (also the salt if you have omitted the bacon from the recipe).

Using a wooden spoon mix it all together.

Cover and keep in the fridge until ready to serve (you will need 10 minutes to warm it before serving).

So when you are ready to serve it at home or just about to leave for your get together, over a low heat, in a heavy based frying pan or large saucepan gently warm it, stirring often, remembering you are only warming it through not cooking it. Once warmed, put it into your serving bowl/s and serve immediately or cover with tin-foil to keep warm until you get to your destination.

This recipe makes around 3 1/2 cups.

Storage – Once you have served the dip, if there were some that wasn’t eaten, I recommend discarding it because it’s been sitting out. If you didn’t put it all out and there is a spare bowl of it in the fridge, I would only keep it for 24 hours after you’ve made it, as cooked spinach doesn’t keep well.

 

If you’d like to serve this dip stuffed into a toasted Vienna or Cob loafm there are instructions here. Or if you would like to enjoy it with crostini, and prefer to make your own, there are some simple directions here.