artichokes Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

I was inspired to make this pizza after having the Chicken Artichoke Flatbread Pizza at Outback Steak House. Spinach artichoke dip is always one of my favorite appetizers to order at restaurants, so after trying the flat bread pizza I knew I would need to create my own pizza. I have made Spinach Artichoke Dip a few times for parties and have always been pretty satisfied with the results. I decided to create this pizza to be able to post it to M’s Produce Tuesday for artichokes (I used canned artichoke hearts, but you certainly could use fresh ones as well- here is a tutorial on how to trim and clean an artichoke heart).

Everything was going perfectly with the creation of this pizza until I went to remove the pizza from the oven. The pizza slipped off the pizza peel and landed topping down into the crack of the oven and the oven door. What a mess! I was so upset after I dropped it my boyfriend had to clean it up and try to save as much as he could of it. We still ate what he was able to save and it was still delicious, just not really pretty to photograph and show you guys. I was so proud of what the results were going to be so it broke my heart when I dropped it. Just goes to show you that kitchen accidents happen to everyone! I will definitely be trying this pizza again.

Chicken Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Recipe type: Entree

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 oz. light cream cheese
3 tbsp. light mayonnaise
3 tbsp. light sour cream
3 tbsp. grated parmesan
5oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and moisture squeezed out
5-6 canned artichokes hearts, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minces
salt
pepper
3 oz grilled chicken breast cut into small pieces
¼ cup shredded parmesan
¾ cup mozzarella
Pizza dough- I use the recipe from Annie’s Eats

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 500 degree with pizza stone in oven. Assemble the artichoke dip in a medium bowl mixing together the cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, 3 tbsp. parmesan, spinach, artichokes, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. With a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit your pizza stone, sprinkle corn meal down on parchment paper and spread out pizza dough. Once the dough is spread out to the size you want, spread artichoke dip onto pizza leaving the edges open for crust. Place cut chicken slices on top of artichoke dip . Then, sprinkle parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top. Place pizza on preheated pizza stone in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Carefully take out of the oven and by all means do not drop the pizza!!

For our second week of the Fresh Produce Tuesday series, we are featuring another great spring vegetable- artichokes. Thank you to all of you who submitted your asparagus recipes last week! If you missed it or have another asparagus-related post you would like to submit, the linky party is still open on the Asparagus link below. Also, here is the current schedule for the Fresh Produce Tuesday series by week:

Week #1- March 27th: Asparagus
Week #2- April 3rd: Artichokes
Week #3- April 10th: Spring Onions
Week #4- April 17th: Peas
Week #5- April 24th: Garlic Scapes
Week #6- May 1st: Rhubarb

I’ve actually only made fresh artichokes once before, and that was just a couple weeks ago. I used Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to learn how to prepare them, how long to boil them and what to serve them with. The stem needs to be snapped off and the ends of the leaves need to be trimmed with scissors. The artichokes then need to be boiled uncovered for 35-45 minutes. I served them warm with her simple red wine vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette poured over them. Here is how Julia describes what to look for when picking artichokes:

A fresh, desirable artichoke is heavy and compact, with fleshy, closely clinging leaves of a good, green color all the way to the tips. The stem is also fresh and green.

Even after reading an entire section of Julia’s cookbook, I still think artichokes can be a little intimidating to prepare and to figure out how to eat them. Here is a helpful article (with pictures) to show you how to cook and eat an artichoke.

For our second Fresh Produce Tuesday, here are some great sounding recipes featuring artichokes:

Artichoke Dipping Sauce from Average Betty
Boiled Artichokes with Dijon-Worcestershire Dipping Sauce from cookthink
Braised Greek Artichoke Bottoms with Lemon and Olive Oil from The New York Times
Fried Baby Artichokes from Steamy Kitchen
Grilled Artichokes with Remoulade Sauce from Waltzing in the Kitchen
Herb Gorgonzola Crusted Artichokes with Parmesan Hollandaise from how sweet it is
How to Cook Artichokes in the Slow Cooker from the kitchn
Roasted Baby Artichokes from spoon fork bacon
Steamed Artichokes with Lemon Butter Sauce from Whole Foods
Stuffed Artichokes from Allrecipes

Now it’s your turn to share a recipe that you have made which includes artichokes! Please link up below- the post can be new or old. Since there are so many great sauces (hollandaise, a homemade mayonnaise, etc) that could be served with artichokes, we would love to see some of those recipes as well even if the post isn’t specifically about artichokes. It would be great if you could link back to 2 Sisters 2 Cities or add our button to your artichokes post (our button can be found in the right-hand column), but it is not required. Please link up even if your recipe is similar to one of the recipes posted above- it’s always great to see various pictures of a dish. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to try out any of these recipes and/or click the “like” link on any that sounds particularly appetizing to you!