Hot Reuben Dip

St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays and I celebrate it every year.  I'm not even Irish or anything, nor do I like green beer, cabbage, or Guiness.  I do, however, love leprechauns and parties.

My St. Patty's festivities throughout the years has become increasingly low-key, though, and I'd say my behavior has improved tenfold now that I am old.  My city has a festival downtown every year, where 25,000 people show up to drink beer in the streets and wreak havoc on the town.  I used to love going there and we'd get a whole group of people together to pre-game, hit the festival, and then hit the Irish bar afterwards.  It was the best!  This year, the mere thought of braving the crowds made me cringe.  Its so crowded!  Where do you even park!?!  People are so drunk and obnoxious!  I don't like beer (especially from a truck)!  There was not one good reason to go to that festival, so we did not.  Instead, we sat outside in the sunshine, had some homemade craft beer (Bloody Mary's for me), and cooked out in the gorgeous 80 degree March weather.  Can't beat that.

I made this reuben dip for the festivities because it has corned beef in it, and corned beef is Irish, right?  I think so.  Pretty sure.  Anyway, I've seen this recipe around on a few blogs and on Pinterest, and thought it would be good to share early in the day before the burgers went on the grill.  I was pleased to see it disappear so fast!  People love them some hot reuben dip, it seems!  And it was super easy to throw together....I made it ahead of time and then just threw it in the oven right before I was ready to serve it.  Yes indeed.

Enjoy!

Hot Reuben Dip
Source: Brown Eyed Baker

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
12 ounces thick sliced deli corned beef, chopped
1 ½ cup Thousand Island dressing
½ cup drained sauerkraut

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Squeeze moisture out of the sauerkraut with a paper towel until it is pretty dry (this will keep the dip from becoming runny).

In a large bowl mix together the cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups of the Swiss cheese, the dressing and corned beef. Spread in a pie plate or other shallow serving dish. Top with the sauerkraut and the remaining ½ cup of Swiss cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Serve hot with cocktail-size rye bread squares (we also used backed tortilla chips for dipping, which was also good).