Happy New Year! I’m sure this week you are seeing a bunch of clean, healthy, detox-type recipes. This is not one of those recipes. This is a recipe for spinach dip served in a loaf of bread. You are probably thinking I’m crazy. You are probably asking yourself “why do I need a recipe for spinach dip?” I’m here to tell you that you do need this recipe. It’s very important to my family and to everyone who has had the opportunity to have it. My mom started making this spinach dip before I was born - thank goodness that I never had to be without it. Since I’ve been alive, we’ve enjoyed it every Christmas – typically Christmas Eve- as well as during any fun events/parties that we’ve hosted over the years. Growing up, when people would ask me if I liked mayonnaise, my response was always “only in my mother’s Spinach Dip”. Still to this day, I’m not a mayo lover but I will devour this dip. So, don’t be afraid if you are not a fan of some of the ingredients – something magical happens when they are all together in this perfect combo. My mother has perfected the recipe over the years, and each year we ask each other – “is it just me…or is this better than last year?”. I’ve tried my best to get an accurate recipe from her, and I paid special attention to each step of the process this year to make sure she wasn’t adding any secret ingredients. I believe this is as close to spinach dip perfection as you can get, so give it a try and let me know what you think.
Ingredients:
- (1) 10oz Package Frozen Chopped Spinach
- ½ Cup Scallions (finely sliced)
- ½ Cup Fresh Parsley (chopped fine)
- 2 Cups Mayonnaise
- 2 or 3 Cloves of Garlic (grated or minced) (the quantity depends on how you feel about garlic)
- ¼ Cup Freshly Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano
- ½ Teaspoon Ground Pepper (or more because I love pepper!)
- (1) Nice Large Round Loaf of Bread (Whole Foods typically has good options for this – but I’m sure any store with a bakery will have it – Pumpernickel, Rye, French, or Italian Bread all work for this)
Directions:
- Thaw the spinach
- Squeeze all water out of the Spinach (this process takes some time but I’m confident you can handle it)
- Put spinach into a bowl
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl (except the bread of course)
- Mix, Mix, Mix until well blended (set bowl aside)
- Cut a ¾ inch thick slice off the top of the bread loaf (keep this – you will need it soon)
- Using a knife, carefully remove most of the soft inside of the bread (leaving a ¾ inch thick shell)
- Cut the bread you removed into nice cubes (set aside)
- Fill the loaf of bread with the dip
- Cover with the bread top, then cover with foil or saran wrap, and refrigerate until ready to eat (up to 24 hours)
- Serve with chunks of bread and fresh vegetable crudité (I personally think it tastes great with carrots)
*This makes about (3) Cups of Dip
**When the dip is almost gone, break up the bread shell and eat – this is the best part!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s very special to the Leonetti family and I hope you share it with your friends and family as well!
