Artichoke Gratinata

I ate the whole batch. Yes, the entire recipe. Both ramekins. It was a good thing I was in the privacy of my own home, because I'm quite sure it was unladylike. It was so good that it caused me to lose both my manners and self-control. I'm talking mind-blowing delicious! This is a side dish that will steal the show. The smell of the gratinata baking in the oven is reminiscent of the best Italian tratorrias. It is intoxicating. Are you seduced yet?


When I really love something, I can be a little over the top. It's almost like I can't stop babbling. This is such a good recipe, that I will literally tell everyone I know to make it. It's that good. I can already tell you that it will easily make my top ten favorites for this year. Hands Down!

This recipe received four out of five on the Food Network. I'm not sure why. I would give it more than five stars if possible. I did make a few changes, which I will note below.


Artichoke Gratinata
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis/Food Network
*Serves 2, can easily be doubled
3 tablespoons olive oil (I used barely 1 tablespoon)
1 garlic clove, minced (I used one really good sized clove)
1 pound frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (Used one can drained, halved artichokes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I added about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I omitted the chicken broth, using about 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice)
1/4 cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup plain bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

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 red pepper flakes and cook until the artichoke hearts are starting to brown at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth (lemon juice) and wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the artichoke mixture to a 2-quart baking dish. (I like individual ramekins so that everyone gets some yummy crunchy topping)

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.

Notes/Results: Loved it so much! I'm so glad that I omitted the chicken broth and used lemon juice. You could really tell that the lemon juice brightened up the recipe. Also, I can never find a bag of frozen artichokes, so I decided to use canned artichoke hearts. I had read the reviews online and saw that the canned artichokes worked well. I drained the artichokes and cut them in half before adding to the skillet. I also cooked the artichokes until all the water (leftover from canning), wine and lemon juice had reduced to about nothing. The mixture was moist, but not wet when I put them in the ramekins. The panko topping was crunchy, cheesy, buttery and over the top delicious. I would definitely double the panko topping if you use two cans of artichokes. You will want all that yummy extra crunch. This recipe is a unique and fun side dish. It is bright, fragrant, crunchy, buttery goodness! I'll be making it again soon!

I'm submitting this to Reeni's Side Dish Showdown. Click HERE for the link.


Oink! Oink!