Artichoke and Bean Bruschetta

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your friends and family.  After celebrating Christmas here in Kentucky, we loaded up the car and headed up to visit family and friends in Ohio.  It was a wonderful visit, but the past few weeks have felt like a whirlwind and I am beyond anxious for everything to settle down and return to normal.

It's amazing how much you can miss your kitchen when you are away.  In celebration of getting back into the kitchen, I made Giada's Artichoke and Bean Bruschetta.

Artichoke and Bean Bruschetta

Adapted from Giada at Home

Makes 4 - 6 servings

Vegetable oil cooking spray

4 very thin slices prosciutto (I used bacon)

12 (1/4-inch-thick) slices rustic country bread

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 (12-ounce) pkg frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (I used jarred)

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F.  Spray a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Lay the prosciutto in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 to 2 minutes, until crispy.  Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

On another baking sheet, arrange the bread slices in a single layer.  Using a pastry brush, brush the bread with 1/4 cup of the oil.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.

In a food processor, combine the artichoke hearts, beans, cheese, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Pulse until the mixture is chunky.  With the machine running, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and mix until combined but still slightly chunky.

Spoon the artichoke mixture onto the crostini.  Crumble the prosciutto and sprinkle on top.  Drizzle with oil and serve.

Notes/Results: We enjoyed the smooth creaminess of the artichoke and bean mixture, but felt the added lemon zest and lemon juice were a little too overpowering.  Next time around, I would probably omit both the lemon zest and lemon juice and add in a clove or two of garlic.  Also, I didn't have any prosciutto on hand, so I subbed bacon. I think I actually prefer the bacon for this recipe because it lends a heartiness and smokiness that you just don't get with prosciutto. I would make this again with the changes mentioned.

I'm really looking forward to catching up on all your blogs and seeing what you've been up to.  May the new year bring us lots of new and tasty recipes!

Now cooking the recipes of Giada De Laurentiis

At Brenda's Canadian Kitchen