Saturday, May 19, 2012

Artichoke Pasta Alternative

I love a nice, steamed artichoke, luuuuuurv, in fact.  But after I'm into artichoke season for a while, I start to wonder, "What else can I do with this thing?"  Well, I was talking with my new, fabulous Health Counseling client, (yup, launched my new business:  One Healthy Mother, more on that soon), about a large portion of her life she spent living in Italy, (hence, the fabulous!), and truth be told, we were going over some no-no foods for her initial health goals, and with a sniffle she began revealing different Italian dishes she'll miss dreadfully.  (She ADORES a good, fresh Italian pasta dish, who doesn't!?)  And she told me about this sauce they just throw together in Italy on any given day during artichoke season.  I MUST go there!
(drill seargent-esque)
Me:  HOW DO WE LIKE OUR RECIPES?
You:  SIMPLE!
Me:  WHEN DO WE LIKE THEM SIMPLE?
You:  ALWAYS!
This is so simple, fresh, and delicious that I must share it with you.  My client tells me to just scrape the meat from the leaves of a steamed artichoke:


Although, full disclosure, because I'm always honest with you people, aren't' I?  If you have an extra pair of hands around the kitchen, or a teenager you can bribe to do this, scraping the meat off the artichoke leaves is a wee bit time-consuming.  Not my favorite thing to do, and I could have easily had two more full artichokes for this dish, IF I had the where with all to continue scraping, yes:  Each.  Individual.  Leaf.  Oy.

M'fingers got tired...

Scrap all you can, and also chop up the hearts:



Pile 'O scraped leaves
 Sautée some garlic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pan on medium heat, add the artichoke scrapings, then mix in the pasta of your choice.  Mine is quinoa pasta.  Sprinkle of cheese and TA-DA!  A yummy, fresh, artichoke-infused pasta dish.  lovely.  Henry ate it very, very fast.


Do y'all have any other favorite artichoke recipes to share?  Please send them 
in or put them in the comment section.  Thank you, and as always, enjoy!


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