Cheesy Chicken & Artichoke Dip

I made these appetizers last Monday for our “food day” at work, in celebration of the return of our manager from a medical leave of absence.  If you remember, I also made these brownies to welcome her back.

<Back to the talk about the appetizers>  I only made half of the batch of appetizer bites, but the entire batch of the filling.  So, in order to put the rest of the filling to good use, I brought it with me to my parents’ for Thanksgiving, threw it in one of my mom’s pie plates, topped it with some shredded mozzerella and baked it at 375 for roughly 20 minutes (until the top was golden brown).  Voila! I had an incredibly tasty dip for the crackers I also brought with me.

We (me and my family) ate scarfed down the dip within minutes, it was so good!  The ingredients list below is just a copy of the full filling recipe (even though I used half) plus shredded mozzerella.  I actually think I’ll use this entire filling recipe as a dip for now on!

Cheesy Chicken & Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

6 slices fully cooked bacon (from 2.1-oz pkg)
1 package (6 oz) refrigerated cooked chicken breast strips, cubed
1 box (9 oz) frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain and thoroughly chopped
1 can (13.75 oz) quartered artichoke hearts, drained, coarsely chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup mayo or salad dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Heat bacon as directed on package; crumble. In large bowl, mix bacon and remaining ingredients except mozzarella.  Place half of recipe in pie dish or baker, save the rest for another night.  Top with shredded mozzarella. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until top is golden.