Artichoke Egg Bake

Occasionally I'll get a burr up my butt to try a new food. For the last few weeks, I've been really hung up on wanting to try making something with artichoke at home, but was not brave enough to make it myself. I researched and saved several recipes, hoping that one day I would work up enough guts to bite the bullet and figure out how to attack one of those things. Thankfully, I waited long enough that I managed to convince Will to make something with artichoke for me instead! I had saved up this recipe for a day where we had a bunch of eggs sitting around with nothing to make with them. It just so happened to coincide with the brief few days Will was home from Italy and before he left for Blacksburg, when we came upon that need. I asked if he would be so kind as to tackle the artichokes on my behalf and he begrudgingly acquiesed. While I found this recipe to be successful (it makes great leftovers), Will strongly recommends just buying the frozen or pre-cut artichokes, as they are apparently not worth all the effort he put into them.

Needless to say, I won't be making this for myself! But there a whole slew of other things that have been happening in our kitchen (currently "my" kitchen), so there are good things to be consumed! In fact today, I received my first share box from a local market that sells subscriptions from local farms. I got a whole bunch of summer fruits and veggies - so much, that I'm not really sure what to do with all of it! But I'll turn to my trusty Simply in Season cookbook, to figure it out. The market also sends out a blogpost with recipe suggestions, so I'll definitely be checking that out for some creative ways to use all of this. Lots of green in season at the moment!! I'm so excited to be trying out this subscription, despite Will being gone. Since I haven't had many Saturday mornings available to go to the farmer's market, I'm happy to have the market come to me! Lots of super local, fresh, organic veggies - yay!

Cooking Notes: We used 1/2 cup of half and half and 1/2 cup cream, instead of 1 cup whole milk (we had both in the fridge and needed to use them up). We also used 3 small fresh artichokes instead of frozen artichoke hearts, like the recipe called for. We ended up using a sweet sausage instead of spicy (you go with what you've got) and then a gruyere/swiss cheese mix. Since we had that cheese on hand, we sadly did not use the goat cheese the recipe called for. Will also tossed in a dash of cayenne for good measure.

Artichoke Egg Bake (adapted from The Kitchn; serves 8)
1/4 lb. sausage (~1 large sausage)
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
3 small fresh artichokes,roughly chopped
8 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half and half
1 1/2 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup gruyere and Swiss cheese blend
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese






Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 3-quart or 9x13 baking dish with olive oil. Heat a deep saute pan over medium-high heat. Chop the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces and cook until well-browned. Add the onion and garlic and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until the onion begins to brown a bit. Add the artichoke hearts and cook until they have just begun to warm through. Turn off the heat.

Whisk the eggs thoroughly, then whisk in the cream and half and half. Add salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir in the cheeses, then fold in the cooked sausage and veggies. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Turn the broiler on high and watch for 2-3 minutes, while getting the top golden brown. Serve warm or cold (preferred!) and enjoy!

Recipe: The Kitchn: Sausage & Artichoke Egg Bake