Rick & Ruth's Cheesy Corn Dip

Ruth’s garden club is meeting today and she needed a dish to take. She found a recipe for Cheesy Corn Dip in one of my cookbooks, and I made some tweaks to make it better.  It’s quite easy to make and really delicious!  Sharp cheddar paired with crispy roasted sweet corn, caramelized onions and flame roasted red bell pepper makes for a tasty dip.

After a rough week at work, I’m just too tired to do all the normal pictures, but I took one of the dish in the oven to prove I made it.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 (16 oz ) bags frozen sweet corn
3 Cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 red bell peppers, flame roasted, skinned and finely chopped
1 large white onion, finely chopped and caramelized in butter
2 Cups sour cream
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles, drained and further dried on paper towels
2 Tbs taco seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter

For the topping:
3 Tbs butter
1 Cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread the corn on a baking sheet and place under the broiler until it just starts to brown on the edges.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Caramelize the chopped onions in a nonstick pan with 1 Tbs butter and 1 Tbs olive oil.  Roast the bell peppers over an open flame until the skins blacken.  Immediately place in a Ziploc bag and let them steam for 10 minutes.  Under running water, rinse off the charred skin.  Seed and dice the roasted peppers. Mix all the remaining dip ingredients in a large bowl and place in a baking dish.  Melt 3 Tbs butter in a nonstick pan and pour in the cup of panko bread crumbs.  Stir to coat all the crumbs with the melted butter.  Spread the buttered crumbs on top of the cheese dip.  Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the bread crumbs are toasty and browned.  Serve warm with corn chips or pita chips.