I think my absolute favorite part about visiting the local farmers' market is the prospect of coming across something I have never seen, eaten, or cooked with before. My most exciting find yet has been the garlic scapes. They were so interesting to me because not only had I never seen them before, I had never even heard of them! Have you? I discovered them last year, bought them as soon as I laid eyes on them, and figured out my own way to use them. I usually just slice them up and add them to sauces or marinades, or infuse oil with them like in this recipe. I was pleased when I came across them again this year, and once more bought them as soon as I spotted them.
At the same stand I found the garlic scapes, I found some baby artichokes. Aren't they cute?!
I have heard of baby artichokes and probably have eaten them at some point, but I have never cooked them myself. I purchased a bunch and decided I would try my own attempt at a recipe I had been eyeing on Pinterest. I had only seen a picture of these scrumptious looking parmesan roasted artichokes and figured I could come up with my own way to replicate the look of the ones I had seen online.
This dish would be great to serve at a cocktail party because they are the perfect individual bite sizes. They would even be a wonderful side dish served alongside a full dinner. Actually when I made these for myself, I tossed them with some pasta I had added a little butter, grated parm, and fresh cracked black pepper to and it was delicious! Bottom line, any way you decide to serve these, they're going to taste amazing - crunchy, buttery, flavorful.
One thing to note: I understand garlic scapes might be hard to come by. If you can't find them at your local grocery store or farmers' market, you can substitute one crushed garlic clove for the garlic scapes and the taste will be very similar.
Alright, let's get cookin'!
Parmesan Crusted Baby Artichokes
Servings: 2
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
6 baby artichokes, outside leaves trimmed off
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic scape, sliced (or one garlic clove, crushed)
3 teaspoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Preheat your broiler on the high setting.
Place a pot 3/4 full with water on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.
While the water is coming to a boil, start infusing your oil. Place a small pot on the stove over low heat. Pour in the olive oil and sprinkle in your garlic scape slices (or your crusted garlic clove). Let the oil infuse while the artichokes cook. In fact, remove the oil from the heat at the same time you remove the artichokes from the boiling water.
Once the water is boiling, add all of your whole baby artichokes to the pot. Let them cook for about 20 minutes until the little stalks are fork tender.
When the artichokes are cooked, drain the water by dumping them all in a colander. Trim off the stalks and any tough outer leaves.
After they are trimmed, slice each one down the center length-wise. Place all of the halves in a small mixing bowl and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
Place a strainer or colander over the mixing bowl and pour the garlic oil into it. You can throw out the garlic scape slices.
Toss the artichokes in the garlic oil until they're all coated.
Place each artichoke half on a baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle each of the tops with 1/4 teaspoon of the grated Parmesan cheese.
Slide the baking sheet into your oven on the top rack. Broil the artichokes until the cheese becomes a crispy, golden brown. Should take five minutes or less.
Once the cheese is browned, remove them from the oven.
Arrange them on your serving dish and serve immediately. Salute!
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