A great dip (artichoke or carciofi) and home-made cheese crackers

Ok, its sunday and getting ready for the super-bowl (the big game) and made something pretty good for the pre-game munchies.

ARTICHOKE or Carciofi Dip:

You'll need
- 10-12 artichoke hearts, cleaned and cut.
- small bunch of flat parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- mozzarella cheese
- ricotta cheese

In a small pan, add about 2 T spoons of olive oil on medium heat and add two cut garlic cloves, when golden add the finely cut parsley.
Add the artichoke hearts, stir and cover for 10 minutes but be careful not to let burn.
Add approx. 2 T spoons of a good balsamic vinegar, I say good because there is a huge difference between a good and a poor vinegar. Add about 1/8 cup of warm water and cover again until those wonderful carciofi (artichokes) are well broken and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Take of the heat and let cool slightly then place them into your food processor or blender.
Add to this the third garlic clove (good size) as well as 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup ricotta as well as a small amount of olive oil (2 T spoons). I like to add (optional) a small amount of cooking cream or panna da cucina but you can also use a low fat or light cream such as half and half coffee cream if you need to cut down on the calories...)
Blend until the dip is creamy and smooth and eccolo...

THE DIP NEEDS SOMETHING TO BE DIPPED INTO IT SO now comes the cheese crakers:

Sure you can buy something at the grocer but whats better than warm, home-made Italian cheese crackers?

You'll need:
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup crated parmigiano
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 T spoons olive oil
- Rosemary or tyme
- 1 T spoon salt and 1 t spoon black pepper.
- Seranwrap (that clear plastic that drives me bonkers)

Start off by adding the parmigiano cheese and the butter together in a small bowl and mix together. Then in another medium size bowl, add the flour, rosemary or tyme, salt & pepper together along with the olive oil and mix together. When you have a good homogenous consistency, add the cheese and butter to this and form a dough ball.
On a wooden surface form a log shape form with this dough about 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter and roll this log so that it is compact onto the seranwrap and close the wrap so that it is rather tight. Place in your freezer for about 20-25 minutes and will explain why the freezer part below.

Heat your over to about 375F. Remove the log you made above and place on a wooden cutting board and with a clean and very thin cutting knife make about 1/4 inch slices from the log. Place the slices (or your soon to be Italian crackers on parchment paper (on a good size cookie sheet). Cook in heated over for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and place these wonders on a big plate for a super antipasto or pre-game special with your artichoke dip.

ENJOY!