This recipe was my take on artichoke dip, but made with feta cheese, confit garlic, and meyer lemons to give it a more Mediterranean feel! Artichokes are an ingredient that I just love, because they play off of cheese well. That’s because they have this sweet aftertaste that works with the salinity in cheeses like parmesan or feta really well. So I figured, why not make a dip, using artichokes and feta? I could see it being super savory, using confit garlic, just to add those caramel-y, toasty notes to the dip, just another level of complexity. And of course with a dip, you need chips or crackers. So I wanted to make my own crackers, using rye flour for this earthier feel, and everything bagel seasoning, just to add pops of flavor to contrast the cleaner flavors in the dip itself. And to be a little garden party-vibey, I garnished the dip with some confit baby artichoke hearts, flaky sea salt, confit garlic oil, and nasturtiums(for pepperiness). This recipe is super summery, and while I will admit it takes a bit more time to make than I would like(I suspect using canned artichokes or even frozen ones would cut the time down to a 45-minute recipe instead of an hour), making it was fun, and eating it was just as gratifying. Probably because I knew I made every component from scratch?

While the recipe itself looks simple, there are a decent amount of steps throughout the entire process. Everything kind of hinges off of two base recipes: confit artichokes and garlic, as well as an artichoke broth. People might have heard of confit garlic(cooking garlic cloves low and slow in olive oil), but I am making that plus confit artichokes, cooking baby artichokes with the garlic cloves in the oil until tender and soft as well. I went with baby artichokes for this recipe, because the choke(fuzzy bits) in them tend to be more edible, so that’s less time needed to prep them. Doing an artichoke confit causes them to get tender and soft, easier to puree with cheese to make a dip. I also took the outer leaves from the artichoke that would otherwise be discarded, and then infused those into vegetable stock for an artichoke broth. The broth is being used to thin out the dip, just so that it can blend properly when pureeing it, and as the wet ingredient in some rye-everything bagel crackers, just to to add the artichoke flavor into pretty much every component. If you love artichoke dip, this recipe will be perfect for you. If you hate artichokes, then stay away from this recipe(and me) since literally every component uses artichoke in some way!

For the confit artichoke and garlic:
1 cup olive oil
16 baby artichokes, peeled(peels reserved)
1 head of garlic, peeled and cloves separated out
1 bay leaf
1g meyer lemon peel
1 tsp chili flakes
a pinch of salt

Place everything into a pot and cook on low heat for 1 hour – you want the garlic to be caramel-toned and the artichokes to be tender. Store in an airtight container, with the oil – you will be using the oil throughout the rest of this recipe!

For the artichoke broth:
Reserved artichoke peels
1 cup vegetable stock
a pinch of salt

Bring everything to a boil and reduce the liquid by a quarter. Pass the liquid through a sieve to remove the artichoke peels. Allow the broth to cool down before using in the crackers and dip.

For the artichoke dip:
all of the confit garlic and half of the confit artichokes
4oz feta cheese
4oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup artichoke broth
3 tbsp confit garlic oil
juice from 1 meyer lemon

Put everything into a blender and blend until completely combined, smooth, and creamy.

For the artichoke-rye-everything bagel crackers:
1 cup rye flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup artichoke broth
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
everything bagel seasoning
flaky salt

Mix everything besides the everything bagel seasoning and flaky salt together to form a dough. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch-thickness and cut the dough out into 2-inch squares. Place the squares onto a lined sheet tray and brush on top more of the confit garlic oil. Sprinkle on top everything bagel seasoning. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. While the crackers are warm, sprinkle the flaky salt over them. Allow the crackers to fully cool.

For garnish:
Nasturtium leaves and flowers
Confit artichokes
Confit garlic oil
Flaky salt