Spinach Artichoke Souffle

Our hands-down favorite breakfast item to get at Panera is their Spinach Artichoke soufflé. Though it has both spinach and artichoke and lots of protein from eggs, it is not necessarily the healthiest breakfast choice Panera offers - it has roughly 25% of a day’s worth of calories and 33g of fat - but oh boy, is it tasty! Since we usually end up indulging in one just about every weekend, I figured I ought to try making it at home - hopefully helping both our waistlines and our wallets!

Ingredients: (makes 4 soufflés)

4 large eggs

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 TBSP reduced fat sour cream or Greek yogurt (I used yogurt)

½ tsp baking powder

Salt to taste

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup frozen spinach, thawed (can use fresh chopped, packed)

2 artichoke hearts, chopped

1 TBSP chopped red bell pepper (I didn’t have bell pepper, but I did have pimentos, so I tried those instead)

~4 TBSP additional shredded Parmesan cheese for topping

1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed (I used Phyllo dough, it came in a box with 2 large rolls - I ended up using about half of one roll)

Heat oven to 400F.

In a bowl, beat 3 eggs. Add yogurt (or sour cream), baking powder, salt, garlic, bell pepper (or pimentos), and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and mix well. Add spinach and artichoke and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, beat remaining egg. Roll out pastry on parchment paper or Aluminum foil and cut into 2 squares/rectangles about 3-4 inches on one side (this ended up being about half of one roll of the Phyllo dough).

Each square will have about 20+ sheets - separate them into stacks of about 10 each, to end up with 4 squares/rectangles of pastry with about 10 sheets in each stack. With each square, gently separate the layers of pastry one at a time to brush with the egg wash. (Note: you can also do the egg wash first before cutting the sheet into squares.)

Carefully lift each pastry square and lay in soufflé cups or baking pan. Spoon 3-4 TBSP of the spinach artichoke mixture into each cup and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Fold the pastry corners over top of the egg mixture and brush the tips with extra egg wash.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until pastry turns golden brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before removing from pan.

Dig in and enjoy the Panera-style deliciousness!

~ Karla

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Baked Spinach Artichoke Chicken Dip

One of my husband’s favorite appetizers is spinach artichoke dip - two healthy greens turned into somewhat of an indulgence with warm, gooey, garlicky melty cheese. Sometimes, if we are not particularly hungry, we’ll split an order of spinach artichoke dip for a meal, and we always run out of dip before we’ve used up the chips that come with it! I had never really thought about trying to make my own spinach artichoke dip. While I usually have frozen spinach on standby in the freezer, artichoke almost never makes it to my weekly shopping list. I had tried using fresh artichoke once before, many years ago, and it was pretty disastrous. Recently, however, I started experimenting with soufflés and have regularly gotten canned artichokes - much easier to work with! With both spinach and artichoke on hand, I decided it was time to give this favorite appetizer a try. For additional substance, I tossed in some shredded chicken breast to make it a little more meal-worthy.

Ingredients:

1 can artichoke hearts (about 8-10 hearts), coarsely chopped

~10oz chopped spinach (I used frozen, thawed & drained)

~1.5 cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded

8oz cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

~6oz plain Greek yogurt (I used fat-free)

~½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

~1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

Heat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until cream cheese and yogurt are incorporated, but no need to make it a homogenous mixture - pockets of melty cheese are wonderful when eating!

 

Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese at the edges begins to brown. Allow sufficient cooling time to prevent burned tongues, top with more parmesan, then dig in with crackers or chips!

 

~Karla

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