I’ll be the first to admit: When it comes to cooking, some things just aren’t worth the fuss.
Like beans — pinto, kidney, black …
Do I buy bags of dried beans and soak them for hours before cooking them? Nope. Canned beans are fine by me.
And I don’t always shred my own cheese. Why bother when they sell all those nice little bags of shredded mozzarella and cheddar? You can even find low-fat and low-sodium.
But artichokes … they’re in a different class.
They are a LOT of fuss and bother — but they’re worth it.
I won’t lie to you: Stuffing artichokes is a painstaking process. But … wow. What a delicious meal.
Here’s my recipe, which I got many years ago from my mother. She may have gotten it from the NY Times Cookbook — her favorite. I don’t know; I never checked.
All I do know is, they are fantastic and worth the effort. And to tell you the truth, they’re a lot of fun to make — especially if you like playing with your food the way I do.
STUFFFED ARTICHOKES
*2 artichokes
*1/2 cup bread crumbs, (confession: I use Progresso’s Italian bread crumbs)
*1 small chopped red onion
*1/3 cup grated Parmesan
*salt, pepper, parsley, basil
*Lemon juice, fresh
*Extra virgin olive oil.
1. To prepare artichokes: Take a knife and cut off the stem. Then cut off the top third of the artichoke and pull off some bottom tough outer leaves. With scissors, cut off the spiky tops of the leaves. Open center leaves carefully with fingers.
2. Turn the artichoke over on a flat surface. Press down firmly on it so the leaves spread out. Now turn right side up, and pull out the yellow leaves from the center.
3. With a spoon, scrape and pull the fuzzy choke out of the artichoke. You should be left with a large cavity in the center. Sprinkle fresh lemon juice over the entire artichoke. (Don’t dawdle — it turns brown quickly)
4. Steam the artichokes for about 25-30 minutes (you can do this ahead of time and refrigerate)
5. While they’re steaming, prepare the stuffing: Mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, onion, herbs and seasoning.
6. Once the artichokes are steamed, drizzle the stuffing into every leaf (you have to pull some away from the body of the artichoke to get the stuffing in).
7. Squeeze lemon juice over all and sprinkle 1 tsp. olive oil over the artichoke (I make an X with the oil over the top of the stuffing).
8. Put artichokes in a baking dish with boiling water about ½” deep. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees fro 30 minutes. If you like a browner, crispier top, remove foil 5 minutes before baking time is done.
NOTE: I’ve had to explain this to friends, so just in case you’ve never eaten an artichoke: Pull off one leaf at a time – loaded with stuffing – and use your teeth to scrape the stuffing plus a bit of the artichoke meat off the leaf. DON’T CHEW AND SWALLOW THE ENTIRE LEAF. You can, however, eat the heart of the choke (middle part with no leaves), which is delicious! When you’re done with the artichoke, you will have a plate filled with discarded leaves.
Enjoy — and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!
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