Artichoke Pizza with Tomato & Spinach
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d write about hearts. Specifically, artichoke hearts.
From a visual standpoint, no other vegetable is as intriguing and layered as a fresh artichoke–not even onions have more layers. Artichokes also possess an unusual, almost-sweet taste, one that hovers at the edge of your tongue and challenges you to define it.
Steaming and cleaning an artichoke, however, takes almost an hour. (This includes a cooling period–trust me, you don’t want to burn your fingers on a still-steaming heart.) Thus, for the sake of easy prep, I often use canned artichokes in dishes that call for them to play a complementary rather than a starring role.
One of the few ways you’ll see artichoke on a menu is within the context of a spinach-artichoke dip. But why stop there? Try blending the hearts with avocado, chickpeas, or white beans. (Just be sure to rinse them well if they came packaged in a heavy oil/marinade–you don’t want that taste to interfere with your creation.) Or quarter the hearts and use them to accent home-made pizzas. Greek salads, too, pair well with artichoke hearts. So do baked chicken casseroles and chicken simmered with herbs and potatoes.
So embrace your new-found hearts! They’ll add unexpected dimensions to many of your favorite dishes…and with the continuous availability of canned artichoke hearts, you can have them any day of the year!
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Tags: artichoke hearts, dips, pizza, salads, spinach, tomato
