I know. I say that all the time. BUT.
I really mean it. Really really.
I’d have to say this is in the top ten of things I’ve ever made. Yeah. For serious. Which is like… the top ten in a million things. Big deal.
And it totally took me by surprise. Gave me a big, fat punch of bewilderment square in the face.
I mean, I expected it to taste good. Obviously. But like… not THAT good.
My grandma always loved this little swiss almond cheese spread that came in a plastic container, and my mom still often buys it to serve with snacks and appetizers. It’s delicious smeared on crackers, but I decided it would be more delicious if someone combined a ton of toasted almonds with a few plentiful thousand handfuls of cheese.
I was right.
Happy happy joy joy.
I mean, just look at that hot, melty mess down there. I can’t even tell you how freaking good this is.
NOW MAKE IT FOR THE SUPER BOWL! Orrrr… just because you are awesome.
Toasted Almond Parmesan Dip
makes about 1 1/2 cups of dip
6 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mascarpone, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parmesan and 1/2 cup almonds. Mix with a spoon to combine, then press into a baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining almonds. Serve with crackers and pita chips!
Note: you can use low-fat cream cheese since the mascarpone has fat in it; not sure about using fat-free.
You are awesome, right?
I’m Jessica and this is where I share my stuff. You will find a balance of healthy recipes, comfort food and indulgent desserts.
Will you come cater my super-bowl party (that I’m not having)?
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this looks so good, i love Super Bowl food!
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Perfect Game Day snack. This looks so delicious.
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Wow. This looks jaw dropping good!
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Oh wow, this sounds tasty. I love to cook Italian meals on Sunday evenings (it’s a tradition of mine). I’m thinking this would be a fun appetizer!
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I’ll be honest. I have a thing for dips. Love them! Great for almost any occasion. And this dip looks bloody spectacular! Amen. The pics do as well, but that goes without saying.
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I’m pinning this!!
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No. You should make this!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/sweet-potato-pecan-casserole-recipe/index.html
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I’ve said this before, BUT, you are killing me !!! This really looks good.
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Oh em gee. Looks divine, and is now on the list of Super Bowl food I’m serving (so far, 2 out of 6 recipes are yours…and you’re the only person with more than one recipe….hmmm….).
Thanks for sharing. Oh, and you and I need a vacation to the Keys. My hand is as tan as yours right now.
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I know that this is a dip, a darn tasty lookin’ one at that, but it looks so good that you could put it on baked potatoes, or veggies. This looks so good, that I am passing it around to my family to enjoy, also.
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Mmmmm…. dip ….. :-)
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cheese is my favourite food.. period, and this cheese dip does indeed look and read as divine. Your shot of the dip dripping off the cracker IS a cracker!! c
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for adding a Pin It link to your recipe. It makes it so much easier for me to pin your recipes to my pinterest, and that is where they end up.
BTW–I was craving your blood orange salsa the other day, but had pork chops instead of fish. Yumm, Yumm. That salsa is good with anything.
Can hardly wait to try this dip. Must get to the store TODAY.
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Thank you. I am officially drooling. Love love love your blog. Love it. xx
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The dip looks great! Can’t wait to try it out. Not only does the dip look great, but what type of crackers are those? They look yummy!
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I am so hungry right, it’s past my bed time and I all I want is to go to the store to get mascarpone cheese!
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This dip was awesome. I made it Friday night for a game night, and everyone raved about it. I’m going to be making this often from now on.
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Wow, this is such a great idea. And it looks DELICIOUS.
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That looks DELISH!! Can’t wait to meet you at Food Blog Forum in Orlando :)
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Looks amazing!!!
I made your giant rainbow cookies on Saturday for one of my desserts for a Foodbuzz 24×24 dinner! They were a hit!
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Hi! I made this for tea last night and it was soooo delicious, thanks for the recipe. It made fantastic leftovers for lunch today too :)
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Hi — so I made this for my Superbowl party yesterday. Big disappointment! It wasn’t ooey-gooey creamy like your pics. It was dry and crumbly. I even splurged on the fresh Parm-Reg. and grated it myself. I feel like maybe you missed an ingredient in your list…..mayo perhaps? Something to bind it all together and make it soft and creamy. The cream cheese and marscapone didn’t achieve this.
The flavor was eh. Nobody ate it. Not sure what you’re raving about. I’m an excellent cook and did everything as you said to do…..so it’s not a situation where I could have done anything wrong…it’s a pretty basic recipe. Bummer.
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Jessica — February 6th, 2012 @ 10:42 am
Hi Jenny – sorry it didn’t work out for you. Definitely not missing any ingredients though. Cream cheese and mascarpone are both really creamy when heated so it doesn’t need anything else to bind it, the only thing I can think of is maybe your oven gets much hotter than mine and dried out the mixture? Not sure, but I made it for the 4th time yesterday as have many others and it’s worked out fine!
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Made this over superbowl and it was DRY… looked nothing like the dip pics shown, and the recipe was followed to a T. Was there something omitted from the recipe by mistake? This was a major disappointment… especially given the “top five things I’ve ever made” claims.
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oh well! thanks for the response.
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My mom made this for her Superbowl party and said everyone gobbled it up. Sadly, I was not at the party so now I am just longingly staring at the photos wishing I could eat them up. As a side note, my mom did use 8oz of cream cheese (instead of 6 oz). I mean, a little extra cream cheese never hurt anyone!
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Can you correct the recipe and include the remaining ingredients. You forgot to include the pepper, nutmeg and salt in combining the ingredients. I made it according to directions and then realized you forgot half the ingredients in the actual instructions.. Without them the dip is bland.
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i’ve made this dip four times now and it is amazing. everyone goes crazy over it. thank you!!!
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found this on pinterest and have made it 3 times. god it is so good.
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I added 2 tbsp sour cream and it was delicious!
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I made this and received rave reviews. I mixed ingredients ahead of time and baked dish later on in week. I did not have nutmeg and used savory herbs instead. I also baked it for 18 min.
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Would it not be better to put in a saucepan and heat to melt to it is homogenous then bake? Maybe added some Heavy Cream very small amount would help or as someone tried sour cream.
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It worked perfect the way I did it. I added 2 oz of heavy cream to make it creamier and mixed and warmed it up over to the stove first to melt the parmesan cheese.
For those 2 people who it did not work I can assume your parmesan never had a chance to melt or was not mixed well enough before baking it. I baked for 22 minutes and could have easily baked for 30!!!
This recipe is very close to Mia Francesca’s 4 cheese Spinach Ravioli pasta sauce. Just add blue cheese, swiss and a touch of marinara sauce or tomato sauce with chunky tomatoes and a touch of spinach and its right on!!
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This dip is amazing! All I needed was one tiny taste before it even went into the oven to know how good it was going to be. Thank you! :)
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