Artichoke dip is popular for good reason: it’s a bubbly, cheesy crowd-pleaser.

                                                                                                           And if you’re watching football, it’s essential to have the perfect dip on hand. When tensions are running high, you need to be able to reach your chip into a delicious dip without peeling your eyes away from the screen. You need to know it’ll be just right: gooey, satisfying, and deeply flavorful.  Okay, I admit I’m not even a big football fan I just like to look at what the players are wearing and watch the commercials but I’m certainly game for this dip.

Note: Leftovers are tasty tucked into skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts. Just slice chicken horizontally down the center until you can open it like a book. Fill with about 1 ½ tablespoons of artichoke dip, and roast in a preheated, 375°F oven until an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F, 30-35 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ scant teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• ¼ cup Romano cheese, grated
• 2 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese
• Pita, warmed and cut into wedges

Procedures

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, onion powder, paprika and salt in a large bowl using a hand-mixer set to medium speed until fluffy and thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, fold in Parmesan, Romano, artichokes and garlic. Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with cooking spray and spread mixture evenly in pan. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Place in oven and bake until heated through, bubbly and lightly browned, 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately with pita for dipping.

Superbowl Sunday is February 1st

Source: Jennifer Olvera is the author of Food Lovers’ Guide to Chicago, and she has all-but tested and developed recipes since toddlehood. She writes the Sunday Supper column for Serious Eats and regularly contributes food features to Chicago Sun-Times. She can often be found tending her garden, canning and traveling to far-flung destinations, where she writes about local edibles for pubs like Los Angeles Times and Frommers.com.