Growing up as a child in an Italian household, my mother would make stuffed artichokes monthly - we loved them! Over the years, Laura has also mastered making them and today, she shares her recipe with you. Hope you enjoy it :)
0:00 introduction
0:14 preparing the broth
1:08 how to clean an artichoke
5:56 preparing the stuffing
11:01 stuffing the artichokes
13:19 baking the artichokes
14:55 how to eat an artichoke
Laura’s Stuffed Artichokes - Italian style
Ingredients
• 4 large Artichokes
• 1 ½ liters of water
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Stuffing ingredients:
• Stems from Artichokes, pealed and chopped into tiny pcs.
• Bread, cut up into small 1/4-inch cubes (about 4 - 5 cups worth)
• 1 - 2 TSP oregano
• 1 - 2 TSP parsley
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ tsp salt
• Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVOO)
• Water (from artichoke pot)
Process
• In a pot, add 1 ½ liters of water, lemon juice, ½ tsp salt and 1 TBSP EVOO. Bring to a boil, leave lid on and set aside, keeping water hot
• Clean your artichokes by cutting off bottom stem (reserve the stems). Place on counter cut side up, and apply some pressure to the artichoke, while rolling it around - this will loosen the leaves. Remove the tough bottom layer of leaves. Then cut off all the “sharp tips”, off every remaining leaf (scissors work well). Open the artichoke from the top/middle and inside, remove the “fuzzy” part right in the middle, on the bottom, and discard that part.
• After cleaning, wash the artichokes and then place them in the pot of pre-boiled water (which still needs to be hot) and let them soak for 30 minutes with lid on. (Note: we will also need to use this water later)
• Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and let’s make your stuffing.
o For your stuffing, put chopped stems, oregano, parsley, garlic, salt in a bowl. Add ½ cup of water, taken from your hot pot with the artichokes in it, and mix till combined.
o Add the chopped bread to the bowl, and mix everything together. Add another ½ - ¾ cup of water (again, form your artichoke hot pot), enough to make your bread moist and almost stick together. Now drizzle EVOO over the bread and mix in again. Set aside
• Remove artichokes from the pot and begin to stuff them with the bread crumb mixture. Stuff the leaves all around with a bit and then fill the middle completely to the top.
• Take a deep oven dish (like a casserole dish) and rub some oil on the bottom and sides. Place your artichokes in the deep dish, cut side down (i.e. the cut stem side down)
• Now pour in some water from the hot pot that the artichokes came out of - you will want enough water to fill the bottom of your casserole dish, about 1 inch deep.
• Cover the artichokes and place into your preheated oven - bake for 45 mins with lid on. Remove lid and continue to bake for 10 - 15 more minutes
• Remove and enjoy while hot
Tips on eating the Artichokes
• Remove each leaf and scrap each leaf, between your top and bottom front teeth. There will be a tender part on the inside of the leaf, that will be eating, along with any breading.
• As you get close to the middle, the leaves will be come smaller and more tender - at this point, you will be able to eat the whole leaf, as opposed to just scraping them.
• Then, of course, you can eat all the stuffing in the middle, and you can also eat the base of the artichoke 😊 (if there are any “fuzzy” parts left on the bottom, just remove them and then you can eat the base)
• These are delicious and “fun” to eat
My Kitchen Gear
Here are a few things I mentioned in the video. Please shop and support your local shops! If you cannot find them there, here are some links to help out.
"My Bread Book" by Jim Lahey
► USA amzn.to/2JLwbEe
► Canada amzn.to/3baKEF0
Lagostina Tuscan Collection Orange Oval Casserole Dish / Dutch Oven, 5 Quarts
► Canada amzn.to/3s0sU5a
► USA (similar) amzn.to/2XbpcYo
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