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
They are all going to have some fibery bits. They don’t really have much taste and what little they have is definitely plant, not fat. But they can take on the flavors they are prepped with.
For this meal I just pulled them out of the jar, chopped them in half length wise, tossed them on a pan with hit butter and red pepper flakes. Then I added the pasta, cheese and some pasta water until everything was perfect.