Artichoke Gratinata

A much healthier side dish than the standard artichoke dip but with all the flavor still there. Simple flavors combine to make this delicious side dish with a lot less guilt.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (or 2 cans, drained)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup Marsala wine (or red table wine)
4 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
2/3 cup grated Parmesan

Servings: One 6x11 baking dish

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the artichoke hearts, parsley, salt, pepper and cook until the artichoke hearts are starting to brown at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the artichoke mixture to a 2-quart baking dish.

Melt the butter in the same skillet used to cook the artichokes. In a small bowl mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan and top the artichokes with the bread crumbs. Bake until the top is golden, about 10 minutes.

Recipe From: www.foodnetwork.com Diada de Laurentiis

I thought this recipe sounded interesting for Italian night, I really enjoy artichokes, a vegetable I seem to have come to love late in life and this one looked tasty. Turns out it was, it also whipped up in minutes!

The major change I made was to use red table wine, we just couldn't fine Marsala wine, but the dish came out fine. I also doubled the topping because when I put the dish together it just didn't look right. Maybe it was because I used a long narrow dish, maybe in an 8x8 it would have looked better. In any case I think the extra topping added flavor and some crunch. Since I had to use canned artichokes the extra crunch was nice.