It’s that time of year again. Football season. I’m happy for
those of you who love football. I am not one of you. I must have a missing gene
because there is no part of me that understands why one would care about the
outcome of a game if you’re not playing or watching a loved one play. I
register a slight satisfaction when our local college team wins, but I don’t
know why. It feels a little like patriotism, but it is inconceivable to me how
some get SO invested in their team. Plus, if the truth be known, I’m not smart enough to understand football. If I had quarter for every time somebody tried to explain to me what a
first down is, I’d be rich. And not just in love. In actual money. I do
sometimes enjoy watching a game but mainly to critique the uniforms and to try
to guess which cheerleaders have ‘real’ ones. (so far, zero.)
I realize I probably just made most of you mad, but IF you’re
still here, I’ll make it up to you by giving you a recipe you can share when
you gather to watch YOUR favorite team play. I promise you it is a winner. I found this recipe here. I've probably made it close to a dozen times now and it hasn't disappointed yet! Everyone loves it. Basically its just four kinds of melted cheese, so what's not to love?
I'll walk you through it, and then I'll include a printable recipe that will give exact measurements.
The first thing you do is preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Slice a pint of cherry tomatoes in half and put on a pan lined with aluminum foil. These beauties came from the farmer's market this past weekend and they are delicious! I've bought them the last couple of weeks, but was told this would probably be the last of them. So sad... Drizzle a tablespoon or so of olive oil over them and sprinkle with salt. Then put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes. (As a side note, I've been doing this for the last two weeks and then when they come out of the oven you put a little balsamic vinegar, fresh or dried basil and mozzarella cheese and they are delicious. But that's another story...)
Be honest. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? (Your offspring don't count.)
While your tomatoes are roasting use this time to get your cheeses ready. I sometimes use pre-shredded cheese, but I had a block of mozzarella already, and I couldn't find provolone except in slices so I just shredded my own. The original recipe calls for 7 oz of mozzarella, but I used the whole 8 ounces and got no complaints. I used 8 ounces of the provolone cheese too. You also use about half a cup of shredded parmesan and one and a half blocks of cream cheese. STOP looking at me like that! I never said this was HEALTHY! Obviously this is not a good dish to serve to your lactose intolerant friends. Use discretion.
So, get all your beautiful cheeses in a bowl and add your seasonings. The original recipe calls for fresh basil, thyme, and oregano, but I didn't have enough basil and my oregano plant looks like someone forgot to water it for a week, so I used dried herbs. I used a teaspoon of each. I also put a couple drops each of basil, thyme, and oregano essential oils in it.
Once your tomatoes come out of the oven, add them to the cheese, mix it up good, and stick it back in the oven for twenty minutes or so. It will be oh so gooey! This is what it looks like BEFORE it goes back in.
You can use this as a hot dip for vegetables, or you can use any type of cracker or pretzel. I used THESE glutino crackers. I took this dish to a class last night that Leslie was teaching and it was a big hit. No surprise there. I baked it after I got to her house and didn't get a picture of it when it came out of the oven, but THIS is what it looked like after twenty minutes.
Oh, by the way, guess where I’m going tomorrow? To a college
football game. Ha! Next time I’m going to talk about how much I don’t like
going on Mediterranean cruises and I just can't understand why people want to go so badly.
If you try this recipe I'd love for you to comment below and let me know how it turned out.
Kristy~
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I really can't wait to make this at the next get-together where something like this is needed. Of course, after eating it I've decided it's always needed. ;) Very good! Thanks for bringing it to share.
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