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By Lacey (Lace Bakes)

Spinach Artichoke Dip Focaccia

Name: Spinach Artichoke Dip Focaccia
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 3 h 23 min
Cuisine: European, Italian, Mediterranean
Ingredients: 1 batch focaccia dough (same-day, overnight or sourdough); Extra virgin olive oil, for the tray and drizzling; 320g (11oz) baby spinach; 5 cloves garlic; 1.5 tablespoons (15ml) extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt; 400g (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped finely; 200g (2 cups) low-moisture mozzarella cheese, grated; 60g (1 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated; 2 tablespoons (6g) fresh basil, julienned; 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic granules; Flaky sea salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste; 165g (6oz) full-fat cream cheese; 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic granules; 1/4 cup reserved spinach artichoke topping, finely chopped; 50g low-moisture mozzarella, grated

17 steps

Prep:3hCook:23min

All the goodness of hot spinach artichoke dip is crammed into this cheesy and delicious focaccia!

Updated at: Fri, 18 Oct 2024 18:10:48 GMT

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Ingredients

12 servings

1focaccia dough

batch, same-day, overnight or sourdough

Extra virgin olive oil

for the tray and drizzling

For the spinach artichoke topping

320gbaby spinach

5cloves garlic

15mlextra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoonflaky sea salt

400gcan artichoke hearts

drained and chopped finely

200glow-moisture mozzarella cheese

grated

60gParmesan cheese

grated

6gfresh basil

julienned

½ teaspoondried garlic granules

For the cream cheese filling

165gfull-fat cream cheese

½ teaspoondried garlic granules

¼ cupspinach artichoke topping

reserved, finely chopped

To finish

50glow-moisture mozzarella

grated

Instructions

Step 1

Instead of using a 9x13 inch tray as the dough recipe calls for, opt to use a larger tray - 13x18 inches (or similar) is great. You want a larger tray here to help ensure there is lots of surface area for the toppings. You won’t need to spread the dough all the way to the edges of the tray but it should definitely measure larger than 9x13 inches after you’re done dimpling it.

Step 2

Mix the base focaccia dough - you can use my ‘Overnight Focaccia’, ‘Same-Day Focaccia’ or ‘The Best Sourdough Focaccia’ recipes. These can be found in the “WILL IT FOCACCIA?! RECIPES” community on Samsung Food.

Step 3

Allow the dough to proof in the bowl according to the recipe instructs. During the proofing time, get started on the topping.

Making the spinach artichoke topping

Step 4

First, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat. Add in the garlic and simmer for a minute or so. Add in the spinach and use tongs to coat it evenly with the oil at the bottom of the pan. Cook over a medium heat until the spinach has completely wilted down. Add in about ¼ - ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt and continue cooking to let some of the water from the spinach evaporate. The entire process should take about ten minutes.

Step 5

Remove the spinach from the frying pan and place into a fine mesh sieve placed over a bowl and leave to cool for a few minutes. While it’s cooling, prepare the artichoke hearts. Drain the tin of artichoke hearts and dice them nice and small.

Step 6

This next step is crucial for the recipe. Both the spinach and artichokes have a lot of water in them, and too much moisture in the topping mixture can prevent the dough from baking properly and cause underbaked areas. It’s important to get rid of as much liquid as possible from both the spinach and artichoke hearts.

Step 7

Using clean hands, squeeze the spinach to drain the liquid through the sieve. Repeat this until there are no drops of spinach water coming off the spinach when you squeeze it. Remove the spinach from the sieve and then place the chopped artichokes inside (no need to wash it in between!). Again, use your hands to squeeze away all the excess water.

Step 8

Now place the spinach and artichokes into a large bowl and add in 200g (2 cups) grated low-moisture mozzarella cheese and 60g (1 cup) grated Parmesan. Add in the fresh basil, garlic granules and then salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. I find it’s easiest to do this with your hands to evenly distribute the spinach.

Step 9

Set aside 50g (1/4 cup) of the topping mixture to use in the cream cheese filling later. The rest of the topping mixture should be divided into three: some will be stuffed inside, some will be dimpled in and the remaining amount will be added on after the focaccia has par-baked.

Step 10

When the focaccia dough has finished proofing in the bowl, line the tray with nonstick parchment paper and coat it with about 3 Tablespoons of bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Step 11

Tip the dough onto the prepared tray and gently stretch it out into a rectangle shape. Scatter 1/3 (165g/1 cup) of the spinach artichoke topping over the dough and then fold it up into thirds as instructed in the base focaccia dough recipe (it should look a bit like a burrito). Flip the entire thing over so the smooth side of the dough is on the top. Cover with an inverted tray (or oiled parchment paper) to proof for 1-1.5 hours.

Dimpling and baking the focaccia

Step 12

Preheat the oven to 220C/430C.

Step 13

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the dough and scatter another 1/3 of the topping mixture over the top of it. Dimple the dough and scatter over some flaky sea salt. Par-bake for 13-15 minutes.

Step 14

Remove the focaccia from the oven and scatter over the remaining topping mixture and finish with a little extra mozzarella cheese…it’s not spinach artichoke dip if it’s not super cheesy! Return to the oven to finish baking for another 6-10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and golden around the edges.

Making and piping the cream cheese filling

Step 15

Finely chop the reserved topping mixture (1/4 cup/50g) and then mix it with the cream cheese and ½ teaspoon garlic granules. Transfer to a piping bag with a wide nozzle or a zip top bag (with corner snipped off). I mix this up while the focaccia is baking.

Step 16

Once the focaccia is out the oven, transfer it over to a cooling rack and then poke the surface with a bunch of holes, I use a large plastic straw or the tip of a turkey baster to do this.

Step 17

Pipe the cream cheese into the holes and let it sit for at least 10 minutes to allow the heat from the focaccia to heat through the cream cheese. Then rip in and enjoy!