recipe: spinach & artichoke dip, or stuffed mushrooms (T-day 5 of 5)

my last recipe & appetizer from Thanksgiving... which is only timely that i'm finally able post it up on Xmas. i was looking for quick & easy but delish artichoke dip as a filling for stuffed mushrooms. the Hot Artichoke & Spinach Dip II recipe from allrecipes.com was well-reviewed and fit the bill, and actually turned out surprisingly good. spinach dip oftentimes is kinda blah when you get it as an app at restaurants, or it's served at random parties... good, but kind of... eeeeh. this one actually had a TON of flavor... it make the mushrooms pop, and the leftover dip i had as  post-t-day appetizer was fantastic. 

photo from allrecipes.com

ingredients list: 
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 & 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese




to make: 
preheat oven to 350F degrees. lightly grease a small baking dish.

in medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayo, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. 

transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish, and top with mozzarella cheese. bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned. [if using mixture for stuffed mushrooms, spoon artichoke dip filling into the de-stemmed mushrooms, and bake for 20 minutes at 350F degrees. i baked mine on a small rack to avoid the soggy bottoms that mushrooms sometimes get -- it worked perf!]