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!