Air Fried Artichoke Hearts

 

Trader Joe's has some amazing foods but one of our favorite staples in our freezer are their frozen artichoke hearts. They were the inspiration for this recipe well over a year ago, but it has taken that long to get this recipe down pat! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do. They have become a regular part of our "empty nest dinners".

Ingredients

1 package Trader Joe's artichoke hearts

Flour, seasoned with salt and pepper 

2 eggs and equivalent amount of olive oil, beaten together

2 cups plain Panko

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

For the dipping sauce:

1 cup mayo

Juice of one lemon

Aleppo pepper flakes

Directions

1. Thaw artichoke hearts. Dry them as much as possible. Put them between layers of paper towels and place a cutting board on top to press them. 
   
2. Drop all the artichokes in the flour, mix to coat, and shaking them off each one as you add them to the egg mixture. 
3. Mix them in the egg mixture to coat shaking off again as you remove them. 
4. Mix the bread crumbs and Panko in a bowl. 
5. All at once, coat all the  hearts in the Panko mixture
   
6.  Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together. Adjust the lemon and Aleppo to taste. 
7. Serve and enjoy!
   

Note: for lighter breading, use lesser amounts of bread crumbs.For crispier breading use seasoned bread crumbs that includes Romano cheese.