Roasted Artichokes with Garlic

Garlicky.  Salty. Artichokey.

Need I say more?

This perfect side dish could not be any easier.  These little packages of yummyness take longer to eat than they actually take to make, and peeling off each leaf of salty, meaty deliciousness is nothing but fun.  This recipe literally takes 5 steps:

Clean. Chop. Stuff.  Drizzle. Sprinkle.

Pop these babies in the oven and bon appetit.  No joke, you're going to surprise yourself.   

But seriously, these will be a winner next to any dinner.

Ingredients:

3 artichokes (1 per person so use ingredients accordingly)

4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced

12 small garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Extra virgin olive oil 

Kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Gently clean artichokes under cool water. 

Chop off bottom stem and 1-2 inches off the top of the artichoke.  Cutting off the bottom will allow the artichoke to stand up straight and by cutting off the top, you are allowing the leaves to really roast and get soft.  

Peel, chop, and mince 4 garlic cloves.  Set aside.  Smash and peel 6 garlic cloves.  (Smashing the garlic clove with the side of your knife will cause the garlic cloves to come easily out of the peel and it may crush into a few pieces. That is okay!)   Stuff the whole garlic cloves (or pieces of broken whole garlic cloves) into the middle leaves of the artichoke.  I gave each artichoke 4 small whole pieces of garlic.

Take the minced garlic that you set aside earlier and divide evenly among each artichoke.  You will want to stuff the tiny pieces of minced garlic into all of the leaves.  Don't forget the outer leaves!  Sprinkle some minced garlic on top of the artichoke as well.  (It may look like a lot of garlic, but believe me, it is what makes this artichoke SO good.)

Take a large piece of tin foil and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on middle of foil.  Brush/rub it in.  Place artichoke on top of oiled spot.  

Drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil on top of artichoke and then sprinkle kosher salt over the whole artichoke.  Wrap artichoke tightly in foil to create a little ball.  Repeat with other artichokes.  Place in a deep dish baking dish and bake for 1 hour. 

After an hour is up, carefully remove tin foil and your artichoke should be browned a tad, looking oh so scrumptious!  Enjoy this tasty treat by removing each leave and using your teeth to scrap the meat off the bottom of each leaf!  Also, if you are a butter-person, chop some garlic up and put in a small bowl with a couple TBS of butter.  Microwave until butter is melted.  This will give you a garlicky-butter to dip each leaf in!