Hot Muffuletta Dip

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Football fans, the time has arrived. Super Bowl, the biggest game of the year, is right around the corner, and who doesn’t love a whole day dedicated to football? Besides all that big screen excitement, it’s an epic day for eating. Get your chicken wings, sliders, pizza, nachos, and pigs in a blanket all lined up. To score points and have a winning spread, you better have a good game plan. 

Fill every bowl in the house with chips. And plan on making dips galore. Besides beer, you just can’t have enough dip on game day, and on Super Bowl Sunday, dip is pretty much a main course. This year’s game is being played in New Orleans, so give your spread some Big Easy vibes with this creamy, cheesy Hot Muffuletta Dip. Full of olives, roasted peppers, giardiniera, salami, ham and provolone, it’s everything you love about the sandwich, but in hot, dippable form. If your watch party needs a dip, this is it. It’s so good! 

Giardiniera is a condiment most notably used on Chicago-style Italian beef. Tangy, spicy, and crunchy, it’s a colorful mix of chopped vegetables pickled in vinegar, and it’s pure magic when added to sandwiches, dips, and spreads. Use it on sandwiches, hot dogs, and burgers, but don’t stop there. It’s also great on salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes. Try adding a small bowl of it to your charcuterie board, or serve it with cheese and crackers, or paired with crostini. 

Take your cream cheese out of the refrigerator ahead of time and let it come to room temperature so that it’s easier to work with. A food processor makes mixing much easier, but If you don’t have one, just use a big bowl and stir your ingredients together. Chop your salami and ham small enough that they can be scooped up in the dip. Same for the green olives, pimentos and provolone. And I recommend not adding any salt. The ingredients have plenty of their own. 

You can make this dip ahead and refrigerate it if you like, then bake it just before you plan to serve. Be sure to let it warm up on the counter for about 30 minutes before you put it in the oven. If you want your dip a little more browned, you can give it a few minutes under the broiler. Serve with bread chunks, baguette rounds or crostini, and offer some cut vegetables alongside, just in case someone is trying to find something healthy. 

It’s game day in The Big Easy. Good luck to both teams! 

Hot Muffuletta Dip

• 1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup giardiniera, drained
• 1/2 cup green olives with pimentos, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, blotted dry and chopped
• 1/2 cup diced Italian dry salami
• 1/2 cup diced ham
• 3 slices provolone cheese
• 1 green onion, sliced
• baguette bread, assorted cut vegetables, or crostini for serving  

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease an 8-inch baking dish. Add cream cheese and sour cream to food processor bowl and pulse/mix until smooth. Add Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper (a few grinds ) and pulse a few more times until combined; add giardiniera and lightly pulse, just enough to mix. 

Transfer about half of cream cheese mixture to prepared baking dish, then stir in green olives, red peppers, salami, ham, and provolone. Add remaining cream cheese mixture and continue to stir until combined, spreading to evenly distribute into dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until nicely browned. Sprinkle with green onions. Serve with sliced baguette rounds, assorted cut vegetables or crostini.