Baked
Pizza Dip
Ingredients
List
Butter
(to grease the baking dish)
1 cup Chunky Tomato
Sauce (recipe below)
8 oz Neufchatel cheese
or cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta
cheese
1/2
teaspoon
dried Italian herb seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic
powder
1 sprig fresh parsley
(optional; for garnish)
Crackers or bread (for
serving)
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Chunky Tomato Sauce:
Yields about 1 cup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, with
about 1/3 of the juice drained off (I used Redpack)
3 tablespoons tomato paste (I used
Redpack)
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb
seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
Directions
Preheat
oven
to 400F; grease the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch casserole
dish with
butter. Make the Chunky Tomato Sauce (recipe below).
Mix
together
the Neufchatel, ricotta, half the mozzarella (reserving the
remaining half to
sprinkle on top), Italian herb seasoning, salt, and garlic
powder. Spread in
the prepared dish, then spread the Chunky Tomato Sauce on top;
sprinkle on the
remaining half of the mozzarella.
Bake
(uncovered) until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown in
places, about 25
to 30 minutes. Chop the parsley leaves and sprinkle on top of
the dip, if
using. Serve with crackers or bread.
Chunky
Tomato
Sauce:
Preheat the oil in
a medium
saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic and cook 1 minute,
stirring
constantly. Add the tomato, tomato paste, Italian herb
seasoning, sugar, salt,
and pepper, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring
frequently and
using a wooden spoon to break up the tomato pieces a bit. Cool
slightly, and
then use to make Baked Pizza Dip (or eat it tossed with pasta —
delicious!).