Artichoke Cheesecake and Gingerbread Houses

 

Have you ever had a savory cheesecake?  This one is wonderful.  If you are going to a holiday party, this is a delicious appetizer that goes a long way and is pretty impressive.

I make this every year for one of our family holiday traditions – gingerbread house day.  We take gingerbread houses pretty seriously in my family.  Every year we pick a theme, buy all the graham crackers that the store has (slight exaggeration), all the powdered sugar (for making the icing/glue), and everything from ice cream cones to pretzels, various candies, marshmallows and anything else we can think of to make them spectacular.  We spend about 8 hours creating our edible masterpiece.  We listen to Christmas music and munch on artichoke cheesecake pretty much all day.  Here are a couple of examples of our work…

The theme for this was “store fronts”,

 

 

 

“Bedford Falls”,

 

 

 

and “Castles”.  If you want to see more pictures, check them out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I encourage you to make family traditions.  The memories last forever!

Now, let’s make an artichoke cheesecake.

Here’s what you’ll need:  1/4 c dry breadcrumbs, 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese, 2 T Italian seasoning

2 8 oz blocks cream cheese, softened, 1 c chopped feta cheese, 3 eggs, 1 (14 0z) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped, 3/4 c chopped red pepper, 3/4 c chopped green pepper, 3/4 c chopped green onions, 1 large clove garlic, minced, 1 t dried tarragon, 1 t dried basil.

Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan.  Combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan and Italian seasoning.

 

Coat the bottom of the pan with the breadcrumb mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

Chop up your vegetables

 

 

 

Process the cream cheese, feta cheese and eggs in a food processor until smooth.  If you don’t have a food processor, you could just use a mixer.

 

Now add all the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and mix until it looks how you want it to look.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I just mix it a little bit and leave the veggies in bigger pieces and sometimes I mix it until it looks like this…

It’s really just a matter of preference here.  If you leave the veggies bigger, obviously it will look more colorful.  Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until golden.  

Chill it for at least two hours.

 

 

 

 

Here’s what it looks like when you take it out of the springform pan.  

Serve it with a variety of crackers, veggies, or anything else you can think of.  Spread this stuff on a cracker and it is SO delicious.  Sometimes, my brother in law even toasts Italian bread and uses this as a spread.