What to do with leftover spinach dip?

I made a double-batch of spinach dip for a party recently.  I use the recipe from Knorr, which is usually printed right on the back of the box of their dry vegetable soup packets.  I omit the optional water chestnuts, and I usually add in 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese.  It's delicious.  Sometimes I add a can of artichokes and/or stir in some softened cream cheese for an even richer treat.  However I decide to make it, I serve the dip with pumpernickel bread, or cubed white bread, or tortilla chips.  It makes a wonderful pretend-like-we-are-eating-healthy alternative to fried appetizers.  I mean, at least there's a leafy green vegetable somewhere inside there, and if you eat enough, perhaps it will even fulfill one of your required daily servings.  (I'm not going to comment on the number of calories that the sour cream and mayo add on there, besides, you can always buy the light versions of those). 

Anyway, this time the amount was way too much for the number of people who attended the party.  I ended up bringing home about half, which is about the same amount as one normal sized batch.  My kids aren't real crazy about spinach to begin with, and they especially won't eat it when it's combined with "slimy" things like mayo and sour cream.  I'd been eating away at it, little by little, but I still had a lot left.  My mother taught me never to waste food, so I had to put my creative chef hat on and figure out what to do with all that leftover spinach dip...

I took the "use what you already have" approach and looked in the fridge.  I had a can of Pillsbury Grands homestyle biscuits, some leftover Tyson Grilled & Ready fully cooked diced chicken breast (also from the party), a brand new block of mozzerella cheese, some cheddar and some parmesan cheese.  So, I came up with the idea to make Chicken & Spinach pizza, and it turned out pretty well. 

Here's the recipe:

Sarah's Chicken & Spinach Pizza (using leftover Spinach Dip)

1 can Pillsbury Grands homestyle biscuits (or crescents, or 1 refrigerated pizza dough crust would also work)
1 1/2 to 2 cups of spinach dip made according the recipe on the Knorr Vegetable Soup packets
1 cup of fully cooked chicken, cubed (such as Tyson's Grilled & Ready)
6 to 10 oz of Mozzerella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1/4 cup shredded cheddar

1. On a non-stick baking sheet, put one biscuit in the center, then surround it with the other biscuits in a circle, with the sides slightly touching.  Pinch the edges together and roll out with a rolling pin until it is pretty thin (about 14 inches in diameter for thinner crust, 12 inches for a thicker crust).  If you make it too thick, the center will still be doughy when the edges are brown. 
2. Spread the spinach dip mixture in a thin layer over the dough, leaving a half inch of the crust exposed around the edges.  Everybody likes a nice crispy crust. 
3. If the chicken pieces are large, chop them a little smaller and then sprinkle the chicken on over the top of the spinach mixture.  If you put the chicken on top of the cheese, it will get all dried out.
4. Next, sprinkle the 3 cheeses over the top.  I only used about 6 ounces of the mozzerella and I thought that was plenty, but some people like a lot of cheese.  Add as much as you want.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 17 to 19 minutes, or until the cheese and the crust are lightly browned.  Serves 2 to 4 depending on appetites and how much they like spinach ;)

If you like red peppers, mushrooms, or artichokes, they would also go nicely with this.  The peppers or the the artichokes could be chopped and stirred into the spinach dip or you could chop them and put them on top.  Mushrooms should be sliced thinly and added to the top, or you can saute them in a little butter first so they don't get dried out.  Yum!

If I sit down and add up all the calories and such, I'll update this post with the nutritional info, though I cannot imagine this being low cal fare.  It's still yummy and hey, I didn't have to waste any of the spinach dip.     

For more tasty recipes, head on over to my new cooking blog, "Savory Simmers" at http://savorysimmers.blogspot.com/