Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 8 baby artichokes
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon
  • olive oil
  • 1 bunch of fresh mint
  • 1 large loaf
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • extra virgin olive oil

Instruction

  • 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.