The trick to artichoke hearts and spaghetti is three fold.
- you need brass extruded spaghetti. Not Teflon. If you hunt around you can find it for $3 instead of $8 a pound.
- you want grilled artichoke hearts. These cost more. But no other will due.
- this isn’t a marinara. You gotta do the whole toss in the pan with some of the pasta water to finish cooking it.
Bonus: red pepper flakes. If you don’t add them you messed up
Butter, spaghetti, red pepper flakes, artichoke hearts, parmesan, pasta water. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. Well, that’s the whole thing if you properly salt your pasta water.
Make sure to add the parm both to the pan stage and a little for garnish.
It’s got flavor. It’s got texture.
If it’s in the budget add some lemon juice and Italian parsley.
Cost per person: $3.82
You don’t need pre-grilled artichoke hearts. This comes out great on a pan with some olive oil and butter. Even better if you cook some salmon in with it after the artichokes are about done. Touch of lemon. Perfect.
Salmon is definitely not in the budget.
Canned artichokes are all I have access to because nobody grows them here and then one time we tried we failed. So my only options are pre-marinated or canned artichokes and they are not going to grill up the right way. I was stupid of an Italian like me to move to Lesser Carolina.
But I get livermush. So it’s not all that bad.
Oh, I use canned artichoke hearts for this as well. I don’t think they specify that they’re grilled.
Salmon is not cheap by me but also not crazy expensive, just a standard food. You might substitute with something slightly better than chicken (or shred the chicken and make sure you have plenty of liquid so that it absorbs the flavor without drying out).
If it doesn’t say they’re grilled then they’re not grilled. I definitely recommend grilled. That little bit of char makes all the difference.