Stuffed Artichokes

What I love most about eating, cooking, looking at recipes, and talking to other people about food is that no matter how much I think I know about food I always learn something new. I recently spoke with someone who was planning on cooking stuffed artichokes for dinner and I tried to imagine what she was talking about. Stuffing an artichoke? I'd never seen or heard of anyone doing this before but after a simple Google search I discovered that lots of people eat stuffed artichokes and I decided I had to try it for myself. I've never been a huge fan of artichokes, I've only cooked it once, maybe twice at home. I thought it was too much work for such a little reward. A little meat at the end of an inedible leaf and only one heart per artichoke? Jarred artichokes in the supermarket are handy but taste weird, nothing at all like a freshly prepared artichoke hearts.

A few tips will help your final dish really stand out. When choosing an artichoke look for leaves that are tightly packed together; separated leaves means the artichoke is getting old and losing moisture. Choose medium sized artichokes that seem heavy for its size. To clean the artichoke, and make sure no critters hitch a ride into your dinner, fill a large bowl full of cold water and agitate the artichoke under water, holding it upside down by its stem.

One of the things I learned from browsing recipes is that there are a lot of different ways to do it. You can cook it in the oven or on the stove top or even in a pressure cooker if you happen to own one. The ingredients certainly varied but the bones of the recipes were breadcrumbs and cheese. I highly recommend using fresh breadcrumbs as opposed to the prepackaged stuff. The recipe I liked the best came from Epicurious but it has a bit of Anne Burrell too. It's a tad time consuming but really fun to make. First, you make a delicious stuffing of breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley and anchovies (you can use Italian sausage too) and stuff it in the center and in between each leaf of the artichoke. The hard work consists of trimming the artichoke itself. The purple leaves in the center are pokey! It reminded me of an alien mouth with its many layers of leaves. But all the hard work is worth the effort, look at this beauty!

After a 50 minute cook time in a simmering concoction these babies are done and ready to eat. You'll pull apart each leaf and bite off the succulent stuffing and bit of artichoke at the end and discard the leaves. The heart itself is hands down the best part. Take a big bite of the center with a spoonful of stuffing and you'll know what I mean. 

This would be a great dish to make if you were hosting something like, oh.. I don't know.. a bunco party? Wouldn't all your friends be so impressed to see this as your appetizer? What makes it such a party friendly dish is that it can be stuffed up to 1 day ahead so all you have to do is cook them up and throw them on a platter. That's what easy entertaining is all about! Your girlfriends will rave about it, it's the highlight of the party! Well.. maybe not, but give it a try anyway.

An inside look. You'll serve your artichokes whole of course.

Stuffed Artichokes

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

Stuffing 

1 1/4 cup fine fresh bread crumbs from an Italian loaf

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (5 cloves) 

1/2 bunch finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 

3 anchovy fillets (or dried Italian sausage)

1 cup finely chopped provolone cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

Artichokes 

2 medium artichokes

1 lemon, halved 

1 cup water, divided 

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided 

1 cup olive oil, divided 

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic, divided

Stuffing
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Spread bread crumbs in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven, stirring, until pale golden, about 10 minutes. Cool completely, then toss with parmesan, garlic, parsley, anchovies, provolone, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Drizzle oil over crumbs and toss to coat.

Trim and stuff artichokes
Cut off artichoke stems and set aside. Cut off top 1/2 inch of 1 artichoke with a serrated knife, then cut about inch off all remaining leaf tips with kitchen shears. Rub cut leaves with a lemon half.

Separate leaves slightly with your thumbs, then pull out purple leaves from center and enough yellow ones to expose fuzzy choke. Scoop out choke with a melon-ball cutter or small spoon, then squeeze some juice from other lemon half into cavity. Repeat with remaining artichoke.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons stuffing into cavity of each artichoke and, starting with bottom leaves and spreading leaves open as much as possible without breaking, spoon a rounded teaspoon stuffing between each leaf.

Cook artichokes
Put 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup broth, 1/4 cup oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a large pot and arrange the artichokes in liquid in 1 layer. Drizzle with olive oil.

Simmer artichokes, covered, until leaves are tender, about 50 minutes. Transfer cooked artichokes, along with any liquid, to a shallow bowl and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Transfer artichokes with tongs to shallow soup bowls and spoon cooking liquid around them.

Cooks' notes:

· Stuffing can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.
· Artichokes can be stuffed (but not cooked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
· Stuffed artichokes can be cooked 4 hours ahead and reheated in a microwave oven.
· Place artichokes under the broil for a final finish to brown the crust and give a nice presentation.