Stuffed Artichoke

Stuffed Artichoke

This was a common dish for Easter dinner. I remember my two sisters, mother and I sitting around the kitchen table, talking and stuffing artichokes. When the grandchildren got older, we would stuff endless amounts of artichokes (+30!) for dinner. 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

-4 medium to large artichokes

-1/2 pound ground beef or your favorite meats.

-1 cup bread crumbs

-1 cup grated parmesan cheese 

-1 tbsp. small cured capers

-1 tbsp. roasted garlic in olive oil or 2 cloves chopped garlic.

-5 leafs of fresh basil lightly chopped

-1/2 cup chopped parsley

-1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes plus 2 tbsp. crushed tomatoes

-1/4 cup red wine vinegar

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. ground fresh pepper

-1 lemon

-extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. To prevent browning or oxidizing of artichokes, cut 1 lemon in half and squeeze into a large bowl of water. Set aside.

3. Cut stem off the artichoke. Cut at least 1 inch off the top of the artichoke. With kitchen shears, snip of any thorns off the peddles. Place the cut artichokes in the bowl with the cold water and lemon.

4. Brown the ground meat. Remove any fat or water that has cooked out of the meat. Add salt and pepper.

5. In a large bowl, place meat, cheese, crumbs, small cured cappers, garlic, chopped fresh basil, chopped parsley, and crushed tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil, and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.  

6. Drain excess water from artichokes. To separate the petals from each other, lightly slam artichokes on table. 

7. To stuff the artichokes, take about 1 tbsp of stuffing mixture at a time and start stuffing in between each petal. Note: it is not necessary to stuff the entire petal. 

8. Heat a large pan on high and add olive oil. Place the stuffed artichoke bottom down. After sautéing for about 5 to 7 minutes, add the red wine vinegar and quickly place lid on pan. Let the red wine vinegar steam over the artichokes for 5 minutes. Remove lid and add 1 tbsp. of tomatoes on top of each artichoke. Pour remaining crushed tomatoes in the bottom of pan.

9. Place pan in heated oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the knife goes through the center with ease.

Can be served with pasta, rice or just a beautiful bowl of salad. A nice side dish to compliment this meal is a fresh Caprese Salad.

Enjoy! 

 
 Mattia