Baked spinach – artichoke dip

“We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking”. ~Steve Elbert

Pornography or not, but something that can be made fast is not necessarily bad (but then I guess neither is pornography).

Anyways, recently I’ve returned from vacation in France. What’s not to love about the country, especially when staying in a small medieval town, living in the heart of it and having all the local attractions at the arms length. One of the things I loved most about this vacation was the food and wine. I can never find the rose as refreshing and as light as in South/ South East of France. One of the guilty pleasures of my time there – I had it every single day. Oh and then the Farmers’ market – litterally, starting at the doorstep, throughout the old town, three times a week. I swear I could live there!

When I came back, instead of bringing my friends some souvenirs, I decided to through a small french style snack and wine get together. Having some goat cheese and sausage bought at the market paired with a bottle of nice rose didn’t seem to do justice to the culinary experience I had there, so when deciding to make something quick/french/easy/tasty, it had to be something with artichokes and spinach.

Just go with your own gut with proportions of the ingredients, here are my approximates:

* 1 pack/ ~100 g of french spinach

* 1 jar/pack of artichoke hearts in olive oil

* 1 container of ricotta

* A few tablespoons of light sourcream

* A few handfuls of grated hard cheese

* A few garlic cloves

* Salt’n’pepper

* Provence herbs

As simple as that – finely chop the spinach, drain and chop the artichoke, the garlic, mix everything together and bake in the oven till the top forms a light brown crust. Depending on the baking dish used, it may take from 20 to 35 minutes. I used the creme brulee ramekins – looked nicer on the table and it baked about 20-25 minutes in 180 degree oven.

Serve with fresh baguette et voila!