Spinach Dip Grilled Cheese

It is Fun Food Friday.  For years, Friday was an excuse to order out or go out.  It was the end of the week and it was easy to justify eating junk food and spending money.  Especially when the kids had 'Book It' coupons from Pizza Hut, yup, remember those?  Hey I am ALL for eating out and spending $.  I just don't want to do it on a night I am going to veg out all night and not get the value out of my entertainment dollar!  Give me dinner out when I can enjoy the entire evening.

So I try to think of fast food recipes on Fridays to quell that hankering (yup, hankering, I am over 50!) for greasy pizza or wings.  This is an original recipe that I came up with to hit all the Friday needs: gooey, salty, decadent, and crunchy.  That along with a great Merlot, and Friday evenings are a time to celebrate!

Spinach Dip Grilled Cheese

1 T. butter-yup, that evil butter again
1 garlic clove minced
1 T. flour
1/2 c. milk-I did use skim, so I am not totally diving into fat hell!
1 oz. cream cheese-that is only a small slice!
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 c. marinated artichokes chopped
4 slices Italian bread (filling is actually for 8 slices, I was just making 2 sandwiches.)
butter, for spreading

Melt the butter in a skillet.  Add the minced garlic and cook for a bit.

Sprinkle with 1 T. flour.  Cook about 1 minute.  It is true, you need to cook the flour to get it to taste better.

Add the milk and stir until thick and bubbly.

Melt in the cream cheese.

Add the Parmesan and the Mozzarella.

Add the spinach, chopped artichoke and red and black pepper.  Stir and heat through.  It will be very thick.

Butter one side of each slice of bread.
Place butter side down in a skillet heated on medium high.  Add the filling and top with the second slice of bread, butter side up.

Toast one side and flip.
Brown the other side.  Cheese mixture will get hot and gooey!
I served with baked sweet potato fries sprinkled with Old Bay Seasoning.  This was a HIT!  Add that cold beer or the hearty glass of wine, turn on a movie and Friday night will feel great!  Seriously, satisfying in a junk food way, and really good on your budget

Relax and zone out on your Friday night!  Only 51 weeks of this challenge left to go!