Artichoke Balls

There is unrest in our family over how these are to be served.  Some members like them warm, out of the oven, some like them cold, out of the refrigerator, and some like them room temperature.  You decide how you like them!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of artichoke hearts, drained and mashed
• 1 C. Italian bread crumbs, plus ½ C. for rolling
• 1 C. grated Romano, plus ¼ C. for rolling
• 1 head of garlic, minced
• 1/3 C. olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon

 Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine the ingredients, adding the bread crumbs last
2. Using a 1 inch scoop, form balls and roll in the extra bread crumb/Romano mixture (skip to step 5 if you prefer them cold)
3. Place the balls on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray
4. Bake for 15 minutes, if you like to serve them warm
5. Refrigerate and serve cold

 Tips and Tricks:

• When preparing the artichoke hearts, it is important to pick out any leaves that are hard.  They are usually on the outside of the artichoke heart and are darker in color.
• Mincing the garlic before it goes in the food processor is an important step.  I have placed the whole cloves of garlic in there and it does not chop it into fine pieces.