Friday, January 1, 2010

Food/Stuffed Artichokes




The holidays when I was growing up were not complete without my mother's extraordinary artichokes--filled with a fragrant stuffing that spilled over the top and filled the spaces between the leaves. Just writing about them makes my mouth water.







Lena’s Stuffed Artichokes
(For 4 servings)

4 large artichokes, with stems
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmeggiano cheese
Olive oil

With kitchen shears, trim the tip of each artichoke leaf straight across.

Slice off the stems of the artichokes close to the base so that artichokes stand upright.

Peel the stems and chop into 1/8” dice.

Mix the chopped stems with the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and cheese.

Add olive oil to hold the mixture together.

Spread open the top of the artichoke, forming a cavity, and stuff with the breadcrumb mixture. Add more stuffing between the leaves.

Arrange stuffed artichokes in a heavy pan. Drizzle with olive oil.

Fill the pan with about one inch of water

Cover the pan and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes, checking to make sure that water has not evaporated (add more if necessary).

Artichokes are done when a leaf can be pulled off easily.

Eat by pulling off one leaf at a time and scraping teeth along the inside of the leaf.

2 comments:

Linda said...

i'm a cooking novice and like to cook with new ingredients. the fun thing is beinga novice, almost everything is a new ingredient! artichoke is one.

i've made pasta with canned artichoke but would love making this. I definitely like to eat this at restaurants.


thanks for sharing :)

Linda Cardillo said...

Thanks for your comment, Linda. Although this is somewhat time-consuming to make, it is well worth the effort. Enjoy!