More sandwich love coming at ya. This vegetarian option is super tasty. The featured ingredient is artichokes that have been charred in a grill pan, so they have a nice caramelization going. I love artichokes and they’re great as the “meat” in this recipe (by Jeff Mauro, btw). They are accompanied by a lemony, garlicky ricotta spread with pine nuts, which add a nice crunch, topped off by lettuce. Pretty simple, but pretty great.

TW’s Tips

• The ricotta spread was a little too garlicky for me; I’d cut the garlic in half.
• When you roast the garlic, it needed a little more time than 20 minutes. I went about 40 so it was nice and tender.
• Costco has a big jar of artichokes that worked great for this.
• You can roast the garlic ahead of time — even make the whole ricotta spread ahead of time if you want.

Enjoy!

Grilled Artichoke Sub

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic (I recommend cutting amount in half)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons grated romano
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Three 10-ounce jars oil-packed artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 large French baguette
• 4 to 6 vibrant leafs of red leaf lettuce
• 1 cup pine nuts, toasted with salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lop off stem end of the head of garlic. Pour the olive oil over the exposed cloves, sprinkle with salt and pepper and wrap loosely in foil. Bake until soft and slightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Let cool, squeeze out the garlic cloves and set aside. Once cool, using your knife, chop into a paste.

Mix together the roasted garlic, ricotta, basil, romano and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Gently add the artichokes to the grill pan and grill until properly charred, 4 to 5 minutes a side, then set aside.

Meanwhile, lightly toast the baguette, about 5 minutes.

For the sandwich build: Split the toasted baguette in half and schmear each half with the ricotta spread. Then pile on the grilled artichokes. Next, add the toasted pine nuts and finally the red leaf lettuce. Cut to serve your family and friends and enjoy with a side of Tony Bennett perhaps.