Stuffed Pepper Dip
I wanted to get you all a great tailgating recipe as we headed in to a weekend of good NFL + College Football match ups! There is a restaurant called The Liberty Hound down on Lake Erie that I love, we always order this stuffed pepper dip + it always hits the spot. I decided to make it last night for the Thursday Night Football + Oregon Vs. Arizona game but I couldn’t find a good recipe anywhere! What I ended up doing is looking up the ingredients on the Liberty Hound’s menu + headed to the grocery store to try to figure it out. This turned out great, it’s essentially all the ingredients you would use for stuffing hot hungarian peppers + mixing it all up into a dip! It’s got garlic, lemon, spinach, banana peppers, ricotta, parmesan + mozzarella cheese and tastes SO good on some warm bread! It was a perfect night out to watch football out on the back patio and enjoy this. The cool part is you can make it ahead of time and throw it in the oven before your guests arrive or before you leave for your tailgate… do yourself a favor and make it this weekend!
Start off by heating 2 tbsp olive oil in a high-sided sautee pan over medium high heat. Throw in 3 cloves of minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in 4 sliced fresh banana peppers (less if you want a little less heat, I used hungarian peppers that our grocery store sells already seeded and ready for stuffing and just sliced them thinly… it worked out to about 3/4 cup of sliced peppers!). Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened – about 4 minutes. Add in a couple handfuls of baby spinach, a tsp fresh lemon zest and the juice from half a lemon. Stir until the spinach wilts, just a couple of minutes + season heavily with salt. Add in 15 oz ricotta cheese, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (reserve a small handful to top later!) + 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Stir together and cook until just melted and then pour into a baking dish. I put mine into two smaller crocks so we can eat one now and save the other for later! At this point you can either cook the dip to finish it, or cover it with plastic wrap + keep it in the fridge overnight until you’re ready to bake!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your dish(es) on a baking sheet in case anything bubbles over. Bake for 30 minutes + then carefully remove from oven and sprinkle with the mozzarella you reserved earlier.
Put the dip back into the oven under the broiler and cook until the cheese is brown and bubbly! Serve with some warmed slices of baguette!
Stuffed Pepper Dip
Serves 6
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh banana or hot hungarian peppers, sliced (about 3/4 cup, less if you want less heat!)
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
bread for serving
Start off by heating olive oil in a high-sided sautee pan over medium high heat. Throw in garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in sliced peppers +cook, stirring occasionally, until softened – about 4 minutes. Add in baby spinach, lemon zest + lemon juice. Stir until the spinach wilts, just a couple of minutes + season heavily with salt. Add in three cheeses (reserve a small handful of the mozzarella), stir together and cook until just melted and then pour into a baking dish. I put mine into two smaller crocks so we can eat one now and save the other for later! At this point you can either cook the dip to finish it, or cover it with plastic wrap + keep it in the fridge overnight until you’re ready to bake!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your dish(es) on a baking sheet in case anything bubbles over. Bake for 30 minutes + then carefully remove from oven and sprinkle with the mozzarella you reserved earlier. Put the dip back into the oven under the broiler and cook until the cheese is brown and bubbly! Serve with some warmed slices of baguette!
Yum! My husband loves banana peppers. I know he would love this!
Would be perfect then! It’s an awesome dip, so great for these colder months it warms you right up!
❤
Yum! can’t wait to try!
You’ll love it Jodi!
It looks amazing! I have never tried this sort of dish before, how are you suppose to eat it? Do you dip your bread in the casserole?
It’s a dip so you can serve it with crackers, veggies, etc. I serve it with the bread and scoop the dip onto the slices!
Sounds great, Danielle! Saving this one for our next Football Party. 🙂 Thanks!
Thanks!! You’ll love it I can’t wait to make it again!
This looks AMAZING! Next on my list when I need an appetizer 🙂
Thank you! You will LOVE it! So good.
Wow. this looks yummy. Will have to definitely try over the holidays.
It is SO delicious and would be fantastic for over the holidays!
Looks tasty!
Thank you!
OMG! I can’t wait to make this! I’ve been to Liberty Hound a handful of times and get this dip EVERY time. It is delicious! I saw the ingredients listed on their menu but didn’t know the proper equivalents. Your picture looks just like their dip. Thanks so much Danielle! I will be making this dip this weekend! 😋
You’re welcome!! Isn’t it the best dip ever?? Especially now that we can’t get it at the Liberty Hound for the winter, this is the next best thing making it for ourselves! Enjoy.
Totally! I’ll be sure to come back and post how it turns out! I’m sure it will be amazing!