Philly Tomato Basil Dip

Ok, so I've made this dip that I've been talking about for 2 days now. It turned out AMAZING. I made some changes to the recipe, so I didn't follow it exactly like it said, but it still turned out great. Here are the different stages.

I used basil that I grew myself. Yes, I washed it before I chopped it. Just wanted to illustrate that it came directly from the plant I grew, and it's the last of it.

I mixed the basil in with 8oz softened cream cheese. The recipe says to sprinkle it on top at the end, but I felt that mixing it in with the cream cheese would have provided more flavor. Also, I only used 1 tbsp of fresh basil at this stage. After mixing this, I pressed it into a lasagna dish. The recipe says to use a pie plate, but I didn't have one. 

Next, I chopped one green onion, and two Roma tomatoes. The recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but I couldn't find any at the grocery store last night. I like Romas better anyway. 

Next, I added 2 tbsp of Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing to the tomatoes and tossed it around in the bowl shown. I then spooned that on top of the cream cheese mixture in my lasagna dish. It covered it completely, without any cream cheese showing through. After that, I sprinkled on the green onions, 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 tbsp of dried basil. 

It was beautiful. The photos really don't do it any justice. 

Anyway, the recipe stops there. But that didn't work for me. I don't care much for cold dips at all. It's just..not natural to me. So, I went a step further, and put it in the oven. I baked it, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes (or until the sides were bubbling) at 350. It made the kitchen smell amazing. Here is the finished product. 

I served it with Dill & Olive Oil Triscuts. It was pretty freakin' amazing. 

And now that I think about it, I could make even more revisions to the recipe. I thought about roasting a couple of cloves of garlic, then chopping it up and adding it to the cream cheese mixture, and maybe even adding the Parmesan to the mixture instead of using it as a topping. Also, maybe some mozzarella on top of it. The possibilities are endless!! 

Eat up, y'all!