Saturday, May 16, 2009

roasted baby artichokes


little mini roasted artichokes

while recently wandering the produce section of the grocery store, looking for inspiration beyond salad fixings, i came across a package of baby artichokes. you know me and miniature things...i couldn't resist. i had no specific plans for them, so i waited until i had no ideas for dinner that week to make some magic happen.



i thought about boiling or even microwaving them, but decided to try out something new - roasting them. of course i'm not new to roasting...but i hadn't really heard of roasted artichoke before. i'm sure it's been done, but not by me, so i made it up as i went along. as with most roasted vegetables, the recipe is more a guide.

because these were small, i didn't trim them much. normally i'd snip the sharp points of leaves, but this time i only cut the base off and removed the outermost, tougher petals.



roasted baby artichokes
6 small artichokes
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1. trim the base and outer leaves off each artichoke and slice in half
2. lay halves face up on a baking sheet
3. brush liberally with oil and season generously with salt & pepper
4. roast at 375-400F for about 10 minutes
5. turn halves upside down (leaves up) and return to oven until deep in color
6.
to eat, hold the top petals and bite out the heart and softer inside leaves



these didn't take very long to crisp up and i didn't really time them in the oven so much as watch for the right color. i bet they'd be fabulous with parmesan cheese (mmm, and/or a little butter). i served them warm and husband and i devoured all 6 at one meal. a very good, different take on artichokes.

1 comments:

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Ooh, I can only imagine how wonderful these smell and how roasting adds to the flavor!