Baked Artichokes with Pasta! I Love Artichokes!

Baked pasta is a universe, and though Lasagna is what comes to mind first, there are a great many other options. Artichokes, for example, work very well with a creamy cheese sauce, and when baked with pasta yield an extremely tasty dish. To serve 5:

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

•3/4 pound (about 350 g) corkscrews or similar short pasta

•6 artichokes

•1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

•A clove of garlic, crushed but left whole

•1 cup (50 g) freshly grated Parmigiano

•1/4 cup finely chopped parsely

•** For the Bechamel Sauce **

•1 1/3 cups whole milk, cold

•1/4 cup unsalted butter

•1/4 cup flour

•A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg (no more)

•** To Assemble the Pasta **

•5 individual portion baking dishes of the sort shown here

•Butter for buttering the dishes and to dot over the pasta

•Another 3/4 cup Parmigiano, with which to dust the pasta before baking it

Preparation:

Set a pot of pasta water to boil; when it does salt it and cook the pasta.

In the meantime, clean the artichokes (see instructions if need be), and slice them and their stems.

Heatt he oil in a saucepan large enough to contain the artichokes, and saute the garlic over a medium flame until it becomes golden. Remove and discard it, and add the artichokes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

While the artichokes are cooking, prepare the bechamel sauce by heating the butter in a small saucepan. Add the flour and simmer the mixture, stirring, until it becomes golden. Add the milk in a quick stream, stirring constantly, and then the nutmeg, and once the sauce thickens simmer it for about 5 minutes to cook the flour.

At this point preheat your oven to 380 F (190 C).

By now the pasta should be cooked. Drain it and turn it into a bowl. Add to it the artichokes, bechamel sauce, grapted Parmigiano, and barsely. Check seasoning and mix well. Butter the baking dishes and divide the pasta evenly between them. Dot the pasta with a little more butter, sprinkle grated cheese over it, and bake the pasta for 10 minutes.

Serve at once, and I would probably go with a white wine here, for example a Vermentino dei Colli di Luni.