Stuffed Artichokes

“Life is like eating artichokes, you have got to go through so much to get so little”

Thomas A. Dorgan

Growing up Italian artichokes were a special treat in late spring, early summer we always enjoyed. With food being grown in greenhouses this particular delicacy can be enjoyed most of the summer now. During exploring the vegetable aisles of the grocery store I am often saddened when I see artichokes turning brown and withering away on the shelf because so many consumers do not know what to do with this strange looking food.

Artichokes are one of my favourite foods and I only eat it while fresh in season which means I maybe get to enjoy it once or twice in a year.

What are artichokes?

Artichokes are the edible immature flower buds of a thistle plant that are native to Southern Europe. Those of you that have read my previous blogs are probably thinking… Another editable flower! Yes! In Italian culture they do not waste and we use all parts of the plant that is editable, or parts of an animal. This came from war time where food was sparse and you cooked and ate what was accessible and you ate what is in season.

Artichokes can be grilled, steamed, boiling, or roasted. My favourite way to eat them is stuffing them and cooking in a water bath. Artichokes are full of fiber and vitamin C. They improve digestion, liver health and can help with heart health.

My favourite way to eat artichokes. Yummy!

Making Stuffed Artichokes

The tricky part with writing down family recipes is if you ever cooked with an old Italian lady they don’t cook with measuring cups or measuring spoons. A lot of the cooking they do is what they saw their mom do or a feeling of how much salt or garlic are needed for example. I will do my best to explain the process of making my favourite dish.

To begin this recipe it starts with your cooking pot. You will need one that can hold the number of artichokes you want to cook with them sitting snug against each other in the pot so they don’t fall over and a pot tall enough that you can cover the artichokes about half to three quarters of the way up the plant and cook it in a water bath.

Once you know how many artichokes will fit in the pot you want to use the next step is finding this plant. I find regular grocery stores don’t always have them as I mentioned before many consumers do know even know what it is, so many retailers likely have to discard them. Be sure to check out your local European grocery store. You will want to pick round, firm and mainly green plant. Defiantly look for those with longer stems as the stems will be part of the stuffing.

One thing I have learned from cooking this dish multiple of times is that I learned to never start with the artichokes since once you start pulling leaves and cutting off the tough parts it begins to turn brown. So I start with prepping the stuffing first.

Stuffing

The stuffing is fairly easy. You will need some old stale bread. Crumble it into small pieces into a large bowl. Old stale Italian bread is best. You will need enough stuffing to fill your artichokes. Depending on the size of the artichokes you find it can range from a half a cup to a cup of mix of stuffing.

Garlic is an essential ingredient in every Italian dish so you will cut at least one clove per artichoke into tiny, tiny pieces. You will throw the cut garlic into the bread crumbs.

The absolutely key ingredient to make these artichokes taste amazing is Italian mint. In my family we have Italian mint growing everywhere in the garden and we use it mostly when making stuffed artichokes. Italian mint which can be referred to as spearmint is milder, sweeter and less “cooling’ than peppermint. You need about a handful. Wash and finely chop. Add to bread mixture.

The additional ingredients you will add to bread bowl is the stems of the artichokes finely chopped. Cut off the skin part of the stem like you would when cleaning the skin off of carrots. Then you will add pinch of salt and pepper.

To get bread mixture to stick together you will add enough olive oil so the mixture is moist, not wet. Enough to have ingredients to stick together.

Prepping Artichokes

Before prepping artichokes be sure to have a large enough bowl or cleaned sink full of fresh, very cold water. This is necessary so as you trim each artichoke you can place it in cold bath to prevent it turning brown.

I will warn you prepping artichokes has a few steps but must be done quick enough that cut portions of the plant doesn’t start turning brown.

First step to prepping your artichoke is to cut the stem off. When cutting the stem get close to the base of the plant without affecting the leaves but will allow it to sit flat in the pot for cooking. As you cut stem off place in cold water as that will be part of the stuffing mixture.

With a large knife you will cut straight across the top of the plant just cutting below the peeks of the leaves. Refer to picture above for reference.

Next you will remove the outer rows of leaves that are super tough. You want to get to the part that starts getting to the ‘meaty’ part of the plant. This usually means the first row of leaves for sure and sometimes and few more from second row.

You will then take your knife and lightly skin the hard part of the outside of the plant. Best to do this holding artichoke upside down as you do it, focusing on the lower portion to take off tough exterior of plant. Similar to taking the skin off an apple.

The remaining leaves left on the plant that remain after you cut off the top you will snap the peak part of the leaf and lightly pull off by pulling down along the plant. Doing this motion will remove some of the skin of the leaves.

Once exterior of plant is prepped it is now time to gently massage the artichoke open as you rotate it in a circular motion. The purpose of doing this is to remove the interior flower portion of the plant and open up the plant so you can stuff it.

As you complete each plant place it in the cold water bath.

Once all artichokes are prepped and you have cut the stems and placed into the stuffing mixture you can then stuff the artichoke. When stuffing the artichoke be sure to fill it right to the top of the plant. Place the artichoke into the pot it will cook in and repeat process until all artichokes are into the pot.

Once all artichokes are in the pot add a bit of olive oil to each one. Fill the pot with water so water is at least half way up the plant. Be sure not to put too much water that the stuffing gets wet as you will lose the stuffing from the plant or ensure the plant is not floating. Remember the pot needs to be just big enough for the artichokes to be snug in the pot. Add a few more cut garlic to the water in the pot to add extra flavour and you will cook to a slow boil and cook for about an hour until cooked and most water has evaporated. Be sure water does not boil over and doesn’t touch the stuffing part. Again in the Italian way when I ask my mom how long to cook it for when we would make this dish together she told me until you think it is cooked. I know what you are thinking…what does that mean. You will notice it is no longer stiff looking and looks more like the picture above.

Funny Fact

I bought a recipe book that you write your favourite recipes in. I bought it with the intentions to fill it will my mom’s recipes and as I said before old Italian ladies don’t use measurements so to this day that recipe book remains empty.

If you have never had artichokes do not be turned off by how odd this plant looks. Artichokes are so delicious and good for you too.