Pizza Dip

Who doesn't love pizza?  I'm always on the lookout for new and easy appetizers and dips.  This one caught my eye when my grandma brought it to Xmas after Xmas 2010.  I was reminded about it when it popped up a few more times over the course of 2011.  I added it to my New Years lineup and served it with sliced French bread.  You just spoon the dip on and it's like a mini French bread pizza.


For toppings, I used green and red peppers, black olives and mushrooms.  I meant to add banana peppers, but forgot.  I kept it vegetarian this time, but pepperoni and/or cooked sausage would be great too.

Side Note:  Did you know you could get day old bread from Jimmy John's for 50 cents?  I didn't know until recently. There are all kinds of old style signs displayed around the store and one mentioned bread for $0.50.  When I jokingly asked about it, I almost jumped for joy at the response.  I called my nearest JJ's the day of the party to see if they had any, and was able to save a few bucks on my food costs.  If you buy their day old bread, make sure you eat it the same day or it'll get hard. 

 These last couple weeks of football are a great excuse to make a new dip!

Pizza DipAdapted from Cleveland Food Goddess
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley (I omitted)1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 - 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce (depending on how saucy you like it)3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
An assortment of your favorite pizza toppings (olives, peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, cooked sausage, banana peppers)
Sliced French bread or baguette, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350.In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, dried herbs and garlic powder.  Spread the mixture in the bottom of an oven safe dish (a pie plate works perfectly). Spread the pizza sauce over the cream cheese mixture.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the mozzarella and all of the parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.
Top with pizza toppings, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Serve immediately with sliced bread.