Three Cheese Artichoke Bites

 It’s always nice to have a few recipes in your back pocket when you’re asked to bring a dish to share.  It’s even better when the dish is something a little out of the norm, so there won’t be twenty of them on the pot luck table.

This is one of those recipes.  These little savory artichoke bites are really easy to put together and they bake up beautifully.  I would compare them to a really hearty little crustless Quiche.  They are really tasty, and even better, super simple to whip up for a crowd.

I started by sauteing up some chopped onion and minced garlic in a bit of olive oil.

I wasn’t at the stove long, just a few minutes until the onion softened up nicely.

As the onions were cooking, I drained and chopped up a large jar of marinated artichoke hearts.  You can find these right next to the canned artichoke hearts in your grocery store.  They are tender, sweet, and marinated in an Italian vinaigrette.

In a large bowl, I combined the artichoke hearts, a few beaten eggs, some cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, dried Italian seasoning, fresh minced parsley, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and a couple drops of Tabasco.

Once that was combined, I added my cooked onions, garlic and some seasoned Italian breadcrumbs.

The eggs and the breadcrumbs helped the mixture bind together well and, at that point, I was ready to scoop the mixture into my mini muffin pans.  I made sure they were sprayed with nonstick spray and then I filled each cup with some of the artichoke and cheese mixture.

The little tarts spent about 20 minutes in the oven, and then came out beautifully puffed and golden.  I let them cool in the pan for a minute and then ran a small knife around the edges of each one and they popped right out of the pan!

They were pot luck perfect.

THREE CHEESE ARTICHOKE BITES

Adapted from Coming Home With Gooseberry Patch