Pasta With Marinated Artichoke Sauce Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Emma Laperruque

May20,2021

12 Ratings

Pasta With Marinated Artichoke Sauce Recipe on Food52 (1)

Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes
Serves 2

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Author Notes

A jar of marinated artichokes might not look like a jar of pasta sauce, but guess what? In this Big Little Recipe, that’s exactly what it is. The best part? You don’t need to cook it, and the whole shebang comes together in less time than it takes for a pot of water to reach a boil. If you don’t have a food processor, a blender can step in. While you want a purée that’s silky and smooth, err on the side of too thick versus too thin—you can always add salty-starchy pasta water or more marinade to get the consistency right. Also remember that the sauce will stiffen as it sits. If red pepper flakes aren’t your thing, skip them, or swap in freshly ground black pepper. And if you don’t have Parmesan, pecorino would be nice, too, or even ground toasted nuts or nutritional yeast. —Emma Laperruque

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

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Pasta With Marinated ArtichokeSauce

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) jar quartered marinated artichoke hearts
Kosher salt
¹/₂ poundrigatoni (or another short pasta)
Freshly grated Parmesan
Red pepper flakes

Directions

Set a pot of water over high heat to come to a boil.
Meanwhile, set a sieve over a bowl, then pour in the whole jar of artichoke hearts. Fill a 1/2-cup measure with artichokes and set those aside. Add the rest of the artichokes to a food processor, along with 1/4 cup of their marinade. Purée until smooth, adding more marinade if you’d like. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to a bowl.
When the water is boiling, generously season it with salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions.
While that’s cooking, halve the reserved artichokes lengthwise.
Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the hot pasta to the artichoke purée. Sprinkle with Parm and pepper flakes and toss. Add pasta water if needed. Top with the artichoke slivers, more red pepper flakes, and more Parm.

Tags:

Pasta
American
Italian
5 Ingredients or Fewer
Lunch
Dinner

Recipe by: Emma Laperruque

emmalaperruque.com

Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.

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13 Reviews

JohnSchucker March 24, 2024

A nice idea. I suppose it depends on the brand of artichoke hearts used, but I found it a bit too vinegary. I was thinking a splash of heavy cream would have balanced out the flavors, but didn’t have any on hand. I used Cento brand. I decided against using the grilled, marinated artichokes that I usually prefer, thinking maybe the smokiness might not be right but it might have been even better.

LULULAND May 4, 2022

This was good! I used a blender for the sauce, but should have used a food processor. The artichokes were stingy and some were tough. Next time I won't save 1/2 cup of them to slice and add to the pasta, as I think the smoothness of the sauce is a must. Hubs mentioned lemon would go good with this, I think so too. Maybe a little juice and zest. We did like it as is though, thanks!

Tricia S. May 20, 2021

Since I was cooking for one I halved the recipe, but still added a bit of lemon zest and pine nuts. It was terrific.