"You'll be a Dentist"

Over the last few weeks I have been undergoing some very painful dental work. I hate the dentist! And I can't ever go to the dentist without thinking of Steve Martin as the evil dentist in The Little Shop of Horrors. In my opinion, he was brilliant in that role as was the rest of the cast. I don't know if that movie was a big success when it was released but it was a movie that we watched thousands of times growing up and we all loved it! When I was younger and we would watch The Little Shop of Horrors I always thought that Audrey II resembled an artichoke.


So through my own personal six degrees of sedation....I mean separation, my recent dentist visits reminded me of Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, DDS, and Dr. Scrivello reminded me of Audrey II and Audrey II reminded me of artichokes. The human mind is a powerful thing, or a crazy one depending on how you look at it;-) When I think of food I usually tend to cook it shortly after. While I didn't have any artichokes laying around, I settled on my favorite artichoke dish that incorporated their hearts and is a breeze to throw together - Artichoke Stuffing. The following recipe is one I formally recorded after watching my mom make this dish from memory for years. The recipe below is for a very small amount. I make it for my husband and I as a side dish for dinner and it is enough for two large portions. You can double, triple or even quadruple the recipe depending on how many people you are feeding. My mom makes this as a side dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas and she uses about four cans of artichoke hearts and increases the other ingredients to match. This is so delicious, the cheese becomes crusty in the oven and the breadcrumbs and the olive oil are so flavorful. Now, say ah!

Italian Artichoke Stuffing
Recipe derived from my Mom

1 can of artichoke hearts quartered
1/4 cup of Parmesan Reggiano Cheese
1/4 cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pepper

Place quartered artichoke hearts in a glass baking dish. Pepper the artichoke hearts to taste. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over artichoke hearts and stir to coat. Pour half of the olive oil over hearts and crumbs to moisten. Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the mixture and coat with remaining Olive Oil. Stir to combine. Sprinkle on top with Parmesan Cheese. Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.