Did ya miss me? I was a bit busy this past week and didn’t have a chance to post….but I am going to make it up to you with this recipe. Easy, delicious and impressive.
My nephew sent me a text the other week wanting to know if I had a copy of his great grandmother’s stuffed artichoke recipe. I don’t. But the mister ate enough of them at her house and she showed him how she made them….the mister “instructed” me years ago on the proper Sicilian way and now I am sharing it with you. (Thank my nephew for asking!)
I serve one artichoke per person and on this occasion we had three hungry peeps gathered around the table. It is also important to pick the appropriate sized pot to steam the artichokes in. It must have a lid and hold the artichokes tightly enough that they don’t fall over and yet not be so small that the bottoms of the ‘chokes don’t rest on the bottom of the pan. Once all of the configuring and ciphering is done, we can get down to business!
Pick nice bright green ‘chokes that have lots of firm leaves. They should be very tight, especially in the center.
Now let’s prep our appetizer:
With a large knife cut the stem as short and flat as possible
Next, cut an X into the remaining stem. This allows the steam to enter up into the ‘choke to cook faster and throughly.
In this next step, please feel free to take out all of your aggression on this poor artichoke…..Slam the base of the ‘choke three or four times on the cutting board to crush the remainder of the stem. Breaking down the cell walls will allow the steam to do its job when we put these lovelies in the pot.
Yeah! I feel so much better now. And as a bonus, it also releases the leaves from the body of the artichoke.
It looks like a flower that has begun to open. However, each of those petals (leaves) has a nasty attitude with those scratchy, pointy leaves. Take the time to trim each of the leaves before moving on to the next step. Hey! Don’t moan about it. Takes just a minute or two per bloom to get the job done.
Scissors make short work of this task. Once that is done, throughly rinse each of the ‘chokes under cool water and pat them dry.
They should look like this and now they are ready for stuffing! Yahooey!
In a bowl you will want to mix the following ingredients:
NOTE: Quantities given are per artichoke
1/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
1 t. chopped garlic
1/4 c. grated good quality parmesan, romano, or pecorino cheeses or a blend of all three (STEP AWAY FROM THAT GREEN CYLINDER! That is NOT cheese!)
dash of salt and pepper
If you like a bit of spice,
add a pinch of paprika
Stir all of these items together and let’s get these artichokes stuffed!
Place your ‘chokes in the pot you are going to steam them in. Using a small spoon (I use a long handled iced teaspoon) gently pull back each section of leaves and fill with the cheese, seasoning and breadcrumb mixture. If you need more, mix up more. The size of artichokes varies so use your best judgement.
All stuffed, snug and ready for steaming! But before we add the water to the pot, give each of the artichokes a drizzle of olive oil. I like Nudo’s Garlic Olive Oil, but use what you have and it will be fine.
Golden perfection! Now add enough water to the pan to reach the top of the bottom row of leaves. Bring the water to a boil and cover with the lid. Add about a cup of water every 10 minutes or so to prevent the pan from boiling dry. Your artichokes should be fully steamed in about 45 minutes.
The cheese will melt, the leaves will relax a bit more and the ultimate test is by tugging on one of the leaves. If it freely pulls away, your artichoke is done. With a bit of finesse’ and some tongs, remove the artichokes from the pot and place them on a plate. Provide a bowl for the discarded leaves as you and your delighted guests devour this delicacy.
Lovely and delicious!
Post Script:
The mister tells me that occasionally his grandmother would add superfine chopped mushrooms and/or tomatoes to the bread crumb mix and sometimes she topped the artichokes with spaghetti gravy instead of olive oil. If you make one of these variations, let me know if you prefer one over the other. That is the beauty of recipes….they are always a work in progress. Enjoy!
Post Script to the Post Script:
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my dear sister did all of the posing, prepping and stuffing so I could take these awesome photos! Thank you for being my helping hands.