Yummy Pizza Dip

Earlier in the year, I had the great pleasure of being a contributor to a fun cooking website called The Cookful. I was tasked to create a yummy slow cooker dip inspired by all that we love about pizza. Let me tell you, that was some hard work, making dips and eating all that cheesy, pizza-y goodness ;) I wouldn’t wish that kind of work on anybody!

Drool.....

But at the end of all that work, I found the sweet spot for pizza dip and here it is! This recipe makes use of your slow cooker if you want to set and forget while you putter around the house. I have found that this recipe works just as well if you layer all of the ingredients into a nice, big casserole dish and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the cheese is really melty. Whichever way you choose to warm and melt up this dip, it will be a winner, winner in your house!

Yummy Pizza Dip

Ingredients

• 12 oz. cream cheese
• 1 jar (14 ounces) pizza sauce
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 3 oz. pepperoni, finely diced
• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Generously spray the inside of your slow cooker, making sure to coat the sides as well as the bottom. If you are not using your slow cooker, grease a large casserole dish and preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Cut up cream cheese into squares and place in the bottom of the slow cooker
3. In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and mix well to combine. Pour over the cream cheese, place the lid on and cook for 2 hours on low setting or for 45 minutes in the oven (until cream cheese is melted and dish is bubbling and hot)
4. 10 to 15 minutes before dip is finished cooking, warm some sliced baguette style bread
5. Serve dip with warmed bread, spoons, chips, cracker and enjoy!

Tips

• Feel free to play with the meat/veggie combos in this. Love sausage and mushrooms? Add a jar of sliced mushrooms and cook a few links of sweet Italian sausage to add to this dip. I have even used my Pasta Sauce recipe to replace the pizza sauce and found it gives it a great flavor too!
• To keep that pizza flavor, stick to the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses but feel free to add more or less of each to taste, but making sure you keep at least 2 cups of cheese in this dip. It can’t be cheesy without the cheese and what kind of pizza is not super cheesy?