Marilyn Monroe, back when she was known as Norma Jeanne Mortenson, was crowned Artichoke Queen on June 1, 1947, in Castroville, ‘the artichoke capital of the world’.

Next time you are tempted to reach, again, for the ready-made taramosalata, hummus, or guacamole, think again! Try this, effectively instant alternative. This is a very quick, easy, and different dip which you can serve both hot and at room temperature.

It will keep for four or five days in the fridge.

You can serve it with raw carrots (feeling healthy), or crisps or taco chips (not fussed about health), or you do something completely different. Try crisping up some pitta bread – tear it apart, into two. Coat with a little olive oil, and some Maldon salt flakes. Bake it for about a quarter of an hour in a 180°C oven.

If you want to add an extra flavour dimension you can add in a couple of lumps of frozen spinach (I usually have a whole bag of spinach lumps in my freezer, they come in handy for all kinds of things).

You can, of course, heat the dip in the microwave – but if you try this, do it VERY carefully – see what happened to my attempt, below!

Almost instant artichoke dip

Serve with crisps – or crisped-up pitta – and a drink

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Serves – 6

Ingredients

• 1 x 400g/14 oz tin of artichokes in salted water – Epicure does a good one
• 2 fat cloves of garlic
• 112g/½ cup mayonnaise
• 100g/1 cup grated Parmesan
• A few fresh herbs – chives are especially good – to garnish.

Instructions

1. If you want to serve this dip hot and bubbling, preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel and crush the garlic and put it in a medium bowl, or into a blender.
3. Add the other ingredients (drain the artichokes) and blend, either with a stick blender or in your blender.
4. If you are serving this hot, pour the dip into an ovenproof dish and bake for about a quarter of an hour.

Music to cook to

Marilyn Monroe, sings Silver Dollar