Artichoke Baked Egg

You know…I kinda think this dish speaks for itself. Yum!

1. Choose artichokes that are about 4 inches wide. This way they will tightly fit into your 9″ baking dish. Trim the end of the choke and peel the stem, then half it length-wise.

2. Half one of the lemons and juice it into a large mixing bowl. Then fill that bowl with ice water.

3. Remove the hairy choke. You cannot eat this, it is really gross. Artichokes are almost color coded so you know which part to remove. I use a pearing knife to cut the choke out and then remove any excess with a small spoon. As a side note, when artichokes bloom…the choke turns this gorgeous indigo color and is simply lovely. But here it is evil and must be destroyed! Place each cleaned artichoke into the lemon water.

4. Add the bread crumbs, cheese and juice from the other lemon half to a small mixing bowl and mix well.

5. Slice the remaining lemon.

6. Place the artichoke halves sliced-side up in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and then fill the cups with some of the bread crumb mix. Add the olive oil to the baking dish. Place the lemon slices and fresh thyme on top and cover with foil.

7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes or until the choke is tender, such as you can easily pierce a fork into the thickest part of the artichoke heart. But be sure to not over cook the chokes as we still need to cook them with the eggs.

8. Remove from the oven, removing the foil. Crack an egg into each cup, making sure the artichokes halves are level first. If you don’t do this, your egg will just pour into the baking dish.

9. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until the eggs have set. Ideally the whites should be fully cooked but the yolks still runny.

Finish with more cheese, salt and fresh cracked pepper. Enjoy!