Bread crown in skillet with spinach and artichoke gratin cream dip

Patri, author of Sabores&Momentos , brings us a recipe to enjoy dipping: an easy-to-make bread recipe prepared in a frying pan , which is combined with a cream of cheese, spinach and artichokes, a combination that is perfect for dipping bread (never better said!)

Now that we are fully immersed in this beautiful season that is autumn, the flavours and textures become warm to keep us warm... But the fact that the recipes continue to be easy and effective is what we are all still looking for.

This week was a very rainy one, so instead of going out for dinner at the weekend, we thought of inviting some friends over for some appetizers and wine at home. I wanted to surprise them with something simple, and look how gorgeous I ended up succeeding that night… A freshly baked bread wreath with the creamy spinach and artichoke gratin in the center for dipping!!

Le Creuset skillet pan

You might think it's very elaborate, but it's not! I can promise you that it's not complicated at all. You make the bread dough in the morning and let it rise. Then you assemble the dough balls and you'll get a delicious "pull-apart" of individual rolls, crispy on the outside and incredibly soft on the inside. The same goes for the dip cream . You make it in the morning, put it in the fridge and just assemble and bake it a little while before your guests arrive.

Spinach, as I told you in the last recipe I shared with you here for Creamed Spinach , is an excellent vegetable prepared in any way. And artichokes, in this case, some good quality canned artichoke hearts are a real delight. A few strokes of the blender along with a few more ingredients from the fridge and we will have the cream ready. We put it in our fantastic Le Creuset cast iron Skillets and no one will be able to resist: I love the thousand possibilities they offer and how fun it is to serve our dishes directly from the oven to the table, with that rustic touch that I like so much.

Skillet bread wreath with spinach and artichoke gratin dip

GRADES:

• With this recipe you will have enough bread dough and spinach and artichoke dip to fill two medium-sized skillets or one large one.
• Above all, let the skillet cool down when it comes out of the oven before serving it and always wrap the handle with a cloth to avoid burning yourself.

Ingredients (for 8-10 people)

For the dough:

• 475gr of conventional flour
• 1 sachet of dry yeast (7g)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 240ml hot milk (but not hot)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable/sunflower oil

For the spinach and artichoke cream:

• 200gr of fresh spinach leaves
• 180g of drained and chopped canned artichoke hearts (high quality)
• 150gr of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 120ml of “sour cream” (or alternatively 100g of cottage cheese and 1 natural -organic- skimmed yogurt)
• 4 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 1 ½ tablespoons sifted flour
• 1 small garlic clove without germ (optional)
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 2 heaping tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 50g grated Emmental cheese
• Grated mozzarella cheese for gratin

Preparation

To make the dough:

1. In a large bowl , or the Kitchen Aid bowl (with the kneading hook), add half of the flour and salt.
2. In a jug, heat the milk (in the microwave) without letting it burn, then add the yeast, stir and let it rest for a few minutes.
3. Pour the milk and yeast into the bowl with the flour and add the vegetable oil. Start mixing (by hand or with your food processor). Add the rest of the flour and continue kneading for about 7-8 minutes, until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
4. We transfer it to a bowl greased with oil, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for at least an hour and a half or two.

Meanwhile, we take advantage of the opportunity to prepare the cream:

5. Put the clean spinach leaves in a glass bowl with a couple of teaspoons of water and seal with cling film. Place in the microwave for 1-2 minutes depending on the power of your microwave. Remove and let sit covered for about 15 minutes to cool.

6. Drain well and put into a blender . Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well until you obtain a smooth cream without lumps. Pour into a bowl, cover with cling film and store in the fridge.

Tokyo Design Fleur de Ligne porcelain bowl and Le Creuset skillet frying pan

We continue with the dough and conclude with the assembly and subsequent baking:

7. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough lightly to extract all the gas, shaping it into a sausage shape so that it can be cut into equal slices. Using a dough cutter or a very sharp knife , cut the portions until you have 16, which you will then shape into balls. The best way is to start by cutting it into two equal parts, which in turn will be cut into two more equal parts, and so on until you have 16, which, using a small scale, weigh the same gram up, gram down, so that the crown is level.
8. We generously coat the skillets with butter (or spray them with baking spray ) and also some plating rings (or oven-safe bowls turned upside down, which we can use to mark the circle) and we position the balls around them, always pressing them down so that they fit well.
9. Melt a little butter and use a kitchen brush to coat them all so that they will be nicely toasted when baked. Cover with cling film and let them rest for another 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oven to 180º with the rack in the center.
11. Remove the cling film from the skillets, remove the plating rings (or the bowls you used) and generously fill the centres with cream. Remember that there has to be enough cream to dip them in!
12. We cover with grated mozzarella cheese and some Parmesan cheese if we have any left over and put it in the oven for 30 minutes until the buns start to brown and sound hollow when you touch them with your fingernails. Then we take the skillets out of the oven, add a little more cheese on top, raise the rack to the top position and put our crowns back in, this time to brown for 5 minutes under the grill.
13. Once ready, we take them out very carefully so as not to burn ourselves and let them cool for a few minutes until they begin to warm up a little.

And ready to serve and surprise your guests! I hope you liked it.

Note: Recipe adapted from Seasons and Suppers blog