Crawfish, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

• 2 C (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese (divided use)
• ½ C sour cream
• ¼ C (1 oz) grated Parmesan cheese (divided use)
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• ½ lb crawfish tail meat, coarsely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 tsp creole seasoning
• 1 tbs cooking oil or butter
• 1 tbs rice wine
• 1 tbs Louisiana hot sauce

Heat the cooking oil or butter over medium high heat and sautee the onions and celery until limp and the onions begin to color. Add the crawfish tail meat and creole seasoning and deglaze with rice wine and hot sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat over to 350°. Combine 1½ C mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tbs Parmesan, the artichoke hearts, spinach, cream cheese, garlic, and pepper in large bowl and stir until well-blended. Add the crawfish mixture and spoon into a 1½-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with ½ C mozzarella and 2 tbs Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips, wheat crackers, or melba toast.

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Michael Fritsche
mbf@fritsche.org

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