Name: Tailgate Rip ‘n’ Dip with Garlic Rolls
Prep time: 1 d 26 h
Yield: 32 garlic rolls and 946 milliliters of dip

Tailgate Rip ‘n’ Dip with Garlic Rolls

Every party needs a show-stopping dish, and our Tailgate Rip ‘n’ Dip with Garlic Rolls is precisely that. Here, we bake Buffalo chicken and spinach artichoke dips inside a pull-apart garlic knot crust for an appetiser that’s creamy, spicy and garlicky all at once.

We used our cold-proof pizza dough to create the rolls, because an overnight proof generates better depth of flavour. If you’re in a hurry, don’t worry: This recipe works with a wide range of different pizza doughs. When we baked the rolls in our Ooni Karu 16, we put them in a rectangular Sicilian pan, but any heatproof 8-by-10-inch baking dish will work just as well.

For the dips, we went with game night classics: spinach artichoke and Buffalo chicken.

We stuck with tried-and-true ingredients for the spinach artichoke dip, using canned artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese. As they say, if it ain’t broke…

We used rotisserie chicken for convenience when making the Buffalo chicken dip, but in a pinch, you can use cooked chicken breastsThe one thing you can’t compromise on in this dish is the Frank’s Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper sauce. Frank’s is “the key ingredient every red-blooded American food obsessive knows is used to make Buffalo sauce,” Arthur Bovino writes in “Buffalo Everything: A Guide to Eating in the ‘Nickel City.’” Instead of making our own Buffalo sauce here (Buffalo sauce includes butter, so it’s a bit different from hot sauce), we went to Frank’s for the bottled version. However, if you have your own special recipe, don’t be afraid to use it.

When combined with salty, buttery garlic rolls, spinach artichoke and Buffalo dips are pretty addictive. Why not make a couple of Tailgate Rip ‘n’ Dips for your next get-together? Fair warning, though: They’ll disappear almost as soon as you take them out of the oven.

Difficulty

Servings

32 garlic rolls and 946 milliliters of dip

Prep Time

24 hours passive, 2 hours active

By Ooni HQ

Method

1: Follow our cold-prove dough recipe.

Instead of shaping the dough into four dough balls, divide it into 25-gram pieces and form each piece into a ball. (Just imagine you’re making mini dough balls and use the same technique.) Then, place the balls around the edges and across the center of your Sicilian pan: You’ll be left with two well-shaped spaces, which will hold the dips.

2: Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the rolls cold prove in the refrigerator for 12 hours (or overnight).

After at least 12 hours, take the pan out and let it come to room temperature (this will take about 2 hours).

3: Place the shredded chicken breast, cream cheese, shredded cheddar, Buffalo sauce and ranch dressing into a mixing bowl.

Stir until combined, adding salt to taste.

4: Warm a saute pan over medium heat, add the grapeseed oil (or your neutral oil of choice), then add the spinach and garlic.

Cook until softened and fragrant, stirring occasionally as the spinach wilts. Remove from the pan, let cool, then chop the mixture roughly and add it to your mixing bowl.

5: Cut the artichoke hearts into bite-sized pieces and add them to the same bowl.

Then add cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan to the vegetables and mix until evenly incorporated.

6: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Add the chopped garlic, oregano and salt, and cook until the garlic is fragrant. Remove the butter mixture from your stovetop and let it cool to room temperature.

7: Preheat your Ooni Karu 16 to 450°C and let it warm up with the door closed for 15 minutes.

Add each dip to a well in the dough pan; then, brush the rolls with your garlic herb butter. Put your pan in the oven, shut the door, and turn off the flame.

8: Let your rip ‘n’ dip bake with the flame off for 10 minutes.

The heat should gradually come down, allowing the dough to cook evenly without burning the top.

9: When the rolls have doubled in size, put the flame back on medium high, rotating the pan to ensure an even brown colour.

(This step should take about 5 minutes.)

10: Remove your rip ‘n’ dip from the oven and brush it with more garlic herb butter.

Crumble the blue cheese over the Buffalo chicken dip. Let cool briefly, as the dips will be quite hot. Then — as the name suggests — rip, dip and enjoy.

Ooni HQ

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