Jamie's Italy
By Jamie Oliver
Ingredients
8 baby artichokes
4 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
olive oil
1 bunch of fresh mint
BASIC BRUSCHETTE
1 large loaf
1 clove of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
Top Tip
The toppings can be as humble or as luxurious as you like, from chopped herbs or a squashed tomato with basil, to marinated vegetables or beautiful cheeses, to lovely flaked crabmeat. The only rule is that whatever goes on top of a bruschetta should be nice and fresh and cooked with care.
Method
- Start by preparing the artichokes: peel them back to their pale, light leaves, then halve them and remove the hairy chokes with a teaspoon.
- Place the prepped artichokes in a pan with just enough water to cover them. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and a little squeeze of lemon juice and cook until the stalks are tender.
- Drain in a colander, then place the artichokes straight back into the empty pan with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and fry for 4 minutes to get a bit of colour on them.
- When they're slightly golden, remove from the heat, squeeze in a little lemon juice, pick, roughly chop and add the mint leaves, then season carefully to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
- Remove 4 artichoke halves from the pan and put to one side, then mash all the rest in the pan, using a fork to squash the garlic out of the skins (throw the skins away).
- For the basic bruschette, cut the loaf in half, then slice it crossways, about 1cm thick.
- Chargrill these slices on a barbecue or in a griddle pan until they are crisp on both sides, then lightly rub each piece a couple of times with a cut clove of garlic.
- Drizzle with some good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of sea salt.
- Spread the mashed artichokes over the basic bruschette, tearing one of the reserved artichoke halves over the top of each.
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