For serious Super Bowl comfort food, try a hot dip

Hosting a horde of fans for the Super Bowl? Or are you crashing somebody’s party and tasked with bringing something delicious? Either way, you could spend a lot of time thinking about what to prepare. Or you could just make this and know beyond any doubt that you had picked a crowd-pleaser.

This dip makes no pretense at healthfulness. Because it’s the Super Bowl! I don’t know about you, but I like my healthy foods healthy, and my decadent foods decadent.

Still, if you insist, you certainly can pick and choose among the ingredients and decide where you want to slim down the dish. You could, for example, use reduced-fat shredded cheese or Neufchatel (low-fat cream cheese) instead of regular. You could use fresh spinach in this recipe, but frozen is just fine.

Hot-and-Creamy Pesto Spinach Dip

Start to finish: 30 minutes (10 minutes active); Servings: 8

2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

9-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess liquid

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

¾ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup milk or cream

¼ cup minced fresh basil

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a shallow, 4-cup baking dish or 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.

In a medium skillet over medium, heat the oil. Add the garlic, stir for 30 seconds, then add the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach is cooked and no liquid remains in the pan, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, milk, basil and a hefty pinch each of salt and pepper. Use an electric mixer to beat until well combined, then add the spinach mixture and mix again until fully incorporated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, smoothing the top, then bake for 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbling. Serve hot with bread or crackers.