How To Make Artichoke Pasta (Pasta With Artichoke, Garlic and Cream)

Artichoke pasta is one of the classic pasta dishes of Italy. The combination of artichoke with its unique flavours combined with those herbs of thyme, basil  and mint make it a summer dish that can be enjoyed at any time of year.

The pasta could be the long sort such as spaghetti or linguini but the sauce sticks better when it is the short dumpy type such as farfalle, conchiglie and penne. Jamie Oliver has his dish adopt farfalle and he opts for prepping artichokes whereas a cheat like me prefers a drained marinated artichoke heart which is ultimately where a cooked artichoke is heading but without the extra effort. The pasta can be any as the star of the show is the sauce.

It’s a quick and easy lunch and supper dish too. One for the weekday after a long working slog. The herbs can be mixed and matched but I prefer thyme and mint although mint can be replaced by the basil to get that slightly acidic note going. An other alternative is to add pesto instead of the herbs simply because it also adds a slightly sour and salty flavour. The idea is to allow the fatty flavour of the artichoke to sing out. 

The recipe is for 2 people. It takes about 10 minutes to cook and drain the pasta, and in that time the artichoke sauce can be prepared.

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Ingredients:

• 150g-175g  farfalle, conchiglie or penne  
• marinated artichoke hearts 100g, drained and sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ lemon, juiced and zested
• parmesan cheese (or vegetarian alternative) 50g/2 oz., finely grated
• 100ml/3.5 fl oz double cream
• thyme, chopped leaves and to taste
• 1 tsp mint leaves, chopped finely 
• basil, half of a small bunch, shredded (optional)
• olive oil, 2 tbsp but it can also be the oil used in the artichoke marinade
• black pepper to taste 

Preparation

1. Cook the spaghetti following pack instructions.
2. Put the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil, season really well and mix.
3. Drain the pasta, but keep 2 tbsp of the cooking water, then toss everything together. The cooking water just helps loosen any pasta and stops it clagging and clumping together especially as the dish cools.
4. Grate over parmesan and black pepper.