Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Happy Friday, everyone!  Before I get to today’s recipe – Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Dip – I just have to mention my week, which has been fabulous.

I’ve had the week off and the weather has been perfect – warm, not too humid, low wind and summery! (If you can’t tell, I love summer and try to soak up as much as I can of this very short season in Minnesota.) This is also, realistically, my last full week off of work until late March 2015 because of the way my schedule looks, so I’m taking advantage of just being at home.

Yesterday was my 15th wedding anniversary, which Teacher Man and I celebrated in pretty low key fashion. We did go out for a celebratory cocktail at one of the local restaurants and sat outside, but then we came home, grilled steaks and I made my favorite cheesy potato gratin (with Gruyere cheese – another favorite of mine!) along with a batch of yummy yellow beans from my garden. After eating out seven of the last nine days because of a combination of work travel and a mini family vacation, I was ready to stay home!

Here we are at Itasca State Park earlier this week – the rocks and water behind us are the “Headwaters” of the Mississippi River and we walked across! The boys and I had a wonderful mini vacation on Leech Lake in Walker, Minnesota … it was quick but it was just what we needed.

Today, I puttered around in the gardens, picked up Earl from the vet’s office (he had his ugly pugly teeth cleaned!) and then made my friend Lynn’s Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Dip for a little at-home happy hour. Lynn and her husband, Kent, raise turkeys in Little Falls and she’s an excellent cook. In fact, we served this particular recipe at a reception in June for the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association and it was a huge hit! (You can find their turkey farm on Facebook – check it out to give them a like and learn more!)

Okay, so I love turkey pepperoni. Does this surprise anyone?

And here it is all hot and bubbly out of the oven.

Food photography is hard – especially with dips and chips. I’m fairly sure this photo doesn’t do it justice.

I love that the dip has just a few basic ingredients so it doesn’t take much time to put together. It looks adorable in the pie plate and it’s completely delicious, as well! Who’s coming over for happy hour?

Have a great weekend – and remember, #eatmoreturkey!

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Dip

• 1 small tub chive cream cheese, softened (I used an 8 oz. container of Philadelphia Chive and Onion Cream Cheese)
• 3/4 jar Pizza Quick sauce (I used Classico)
• Turkey pepperoni, quartered and as much as you’d like (I used about 1/2 of a 5 oz. bag of Hormel turkey pepperoni)
• 1 medium green pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, diced (I used red because that’s what was ready to pick in my garden)
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Black olives – as many or few as you like (oops – I totally forgot to add these, probably because I can’t stand olives!)

Directions: Lightly spray pie plate. Spread chive cream cheese on the pie plate;  then add the pizza sauce on top. Layer with toppings ending with the cheeses. Bake 15 – 20 min at 400 degrees until slightly brown and bubbling. Serve warm with pita or nacho chips.