Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Caprese Pizza Dip & Roasted Garlic

I had a get together this weekend and I served two Italian themed appetizers that were worth sharing.  The Caprese Pizza dip was a big hit.  Oven roasted tomatoes line the bottom of this dip and the top is bubbling with all of the flavors of your favorite Caprese pizza.  
Ingredients
1 pint grape tomatoes (2 cups halved)
1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
1-8 ounce block of cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
10 ounces mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (grated)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil .  Place tomatoes halves on the baking sheet, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons olive oil and salt, then bake for 16 minutes.  While tomato halves are roasting, mix softened cream cheese with mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesanStir in fresh basil, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, and mix well to combine.  Place the tomatoes at the bottom of the baking dish, top it with the cheese mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining parmesan, sprinkle the tablespoon of olive oil on top of this.  Bake for 22 minutes, or until top is golden and bubbly.  Serve immediately with crackers, chips, or crusty bread.
Serves 4-6


Roasted garlic is another appetizer you could use with any Italian/Mediterranean dish.
Roasting the garlic brings out the sweetness and cuts the bite out of it.  You can take a knife and spread the garlic right from the bulb onto a piece of crusty bread.  When cooked liked this, it is very soft and creamy.  Another way to use it, would be, to remove the garlic from the bulb and mash it into a stick of room temperature butter.  This would make a nice garlic butter spread.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients
2 or more heads of garlic 
2 tablespoon of olive oil for every head of garlic
Freshly ground pepper
salt

Cut off the top third of the head of garlic and remove any loose skins.  Place each head in a compartment of a muffin tin and pour two tablespoons of olive oil on top of each head.  Add fresh cracked pepper and salt.  Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for one hour at 400 degrees.  Spread on French bread.

 Sherry
I will link this to:
Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff 
Homemaking Linkup at Hope In Every Season 
Finding the Pretty & Delicious Linky at Your Home Based Mom  
On the Menu Monday at Stonegable 
Rooted in Thyme Simple and Sweet Fridays
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
A Pinteresting Party  at Tutus & Tea Parties
Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 

11 comments:

martinealison said...

Une publication pleine de saveurs... et j'aime ça !
Gros bisous

Schotzy said...

This looks so tasty... I printed it off to serve this week when my daughter and SIL come home. Thanks for sharing!

Sunny Simple Life said...

Oh yum. You eat good at your house for sure.

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

OMG that pizza dip looks soooooo good!! Can't wait to try it!

KC Coake said...

This looks amazing! Pinning. Thanks!
KC

Leslie said...

My mouth is watering right now! I've had roasted garlic like that before and it's buttery and good, but that dip look gooey and amazing!!! Thanks for giving us the recipes.
Blessings,
Leslie

Daniela @Frugal Aint Cheap said...

you speak my language here :)

Anonymous said...

I'm pinning this right away and I know when I'm going to serve it -- I'm doing an Italian-themed table later this spring for a Friday after work party!

Chenille Cottage said...

My mouth is watering, Sherry! I love all the ooey gooey goodness and yummy garlic.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Smiles,
Carolynn xoxo

Liz @ Here's to Handy Andy said...

That dip looks amazing! I'm pinning it to try later. Thanks for sharing!

Sarah Coller said...

Oh wow, this looks amazing! Pinning! Thanks for the recipe!

Thanks for linking up this past week. I'll have the new party up later this afternoon and would love to have you back!

Have a happy day,
Mrs. Sarah Coller