LEMON PARMESAN ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS – AN EASY & DELICIOUS APPETIZER
Hello there!
If you’re like me, you will be attending Holiday parties this time of year that may require you to bring along an appetizer. Well, have I got a great appetizer recipe for you!
These are my super delicious, super attractive, and super easy to make, Lemon Parmesan Artichoke Bottoms. When I lived in Orange County, I organized a group of my neighbors for cooking lessons. Once a month, we got together in someone’s kitchen and our friend, Executive Chef Heather Gardia from Coco’s Restaurants, would come and give us a cooking lesson. The host would provide the wine and Heather would prepare an entire meal as we watched and learned her cooking secrets. It was at one of these classes that she shared with us her recipe for these artichoke bottoms. I have been making them ever since to rave reviews. If you’d like rave reviews too, I’d say you’d better get cookin’ these artichoke bottoms right away! You’ll be glad you did. Here’s what you need to make them, just 6 ingredients!
- 3 – 14 oz. cans of artichoke bottoms
- 2 cups parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- salt & pepper to taste
Now, here is all you have to do to make them:
Open 3 cans of artichokes and drain off the liquid. Pat them dry and place them on a lightly greased baking pan, rounded side down.
Into a medium size mixing bowl, add 2 cups of finely grated parmesan cheese. This is one of the very few times I cook with Kraft Parmesan Cheese instead of the real deal. I like the texture it brings to this particular recipe. If you’d like, you could use freshly grated parmesan, but trust me, Kraft is what you need in this case.
Now, add 3/4 cup of mayonnaise to the cheese.
Mince 2 cloves of fresh garlic and throw them into the bowl.
Give your lemon a good washing. Then, using a microplane grater, zest the peel of one lemon. When you are done zesting, cut the lemon in half and extract the juice from it, straining out the seeds.
Add 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest to the bowl.
Sprinkle on freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste.
Now, give it a good stir to combine all of those yummy ingredients.
Using a soup spoon, mound the cheese mixture into the artichoke bottoms and top them with pine nuts. Bake them in a 375º preheated oven for about 20 minutes until they are heated through and golden brown on top.
Finally, place them on a pretty plate, garnish with fresh herbs, take them to your next event and wait for the accolades to roll in. Trust me, these will be the hit of the party.
- 3 - 14 ounce cans artichoke bottoms, drained and patted dry
- 2 Cups grated parmesan cheese
- ¾ Cup mayonnaise
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1-1/2 Teaspoons lemon zest
- Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
- ½ Cup pine nuts
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Lightly grease the bottom of a low-sided baking pan.
- Place artichoke bottoms on the pan, rounded side down.
- Combine parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest in medium bowl.
- Season to taste with kosher salt & freshly ground pepper.
- Mound cheese mixture into artichoke bottoms.
- Top with pine nuts.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Garnish with fresh herbs.
- Serve warm.
KITCHEN NOTES:
- I tried two different brands of artichoke bottoms, Napoleon and Reese. I found that the Napoleon brand contained more artichokes, giving me more serving portions.
- The folks at Kraft Foods don’t know me. I just like to share.
- This is not an inexpensive appetiser to make. The artichoke bottoms are pricey, as are the pine nuts, but they are worth every penny. I buy my pine nuts at Costco where they are less expensive than elsewhere. I store them in the freezer.
So there you have it: LEMON PARMESAN ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS – AN EASY & DELICIOUS APPETIZER
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