BEST Stuffed Artichokes

The BEST stuffed artichokes and the only recipe you need! My grandmother and mother make stuffed artichokes on special occasions and Sunday dinners, for a first course that always steals the show! They are perfect to enjoy when you have dinner or brunch guests as you peel away the layers starting with the leaves and making your way to the the delicacy…the heart! As kids we would eat the through the leaves so fast to get to the heart, but now as adults we realize the journey (enjoying conversation, wine, and laughter, and the stuffed leaves), is actually the best part with a little surprise at the end of the tunnel! I made a video tutorial so you can see each step and how to prepare, clean, stuff, and cook, eat the artichokes! I have a sneaky suspicion this recipe might just be your favorite that I have ever posted! Let’s make my Grandma Jo’s Stuffed Artichokes!

 Video

Melissa Jo’s Stuffed Artichokes

Melissa Jo

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Ingredients

  

• 6 artichokes
• 2 lemons
• water
• 1.5 cups Italian style breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup of grated Locatelli Pecorino Romano Cheese
• about 1 bulb of garlic each clove peeled and cut lengthwise into slivers.
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
• about 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper plenty of it!
• 1 stick of butter melted and rationed out into servings for each person to use for dipping. about 1-2 tbsp. of melted butter per person

Instructions

 

• First, follow the steps in the section of my blog “How to Prepare and Clean Artichokes”
• Peel a bulb of garlic and separate into cloves. Cut each clove into about 3-5 slivers lengthwise depending on the size of each clove. You will use about 1/4 of the slivers of garlic in the breadcrumb stuffing and 3/4 of the slivers of garlic directly into the leaves of the artichokes.
• Breadcrumb stuffing: In a bowl add the Italian breadcrumbs, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, fresh chopped parsley, plenty of kosher salt and cracked black pepper (at least 1 tsp. of each), about 10-15 slivers of garlic, (Save the rest of the garlic slivers for stuffing the artichokes) & about 2-3 tbsp. of olive oil just to moisten the breadcrumbs. Mix all together with a spoon.
• After the artichokes are dry spread open the leaves and begin adding 1 sliver of garlic into about every other artichoke leaf. Then, take spoonfuls of the breadcrumb mixture and sprinkle into the artichoke leaves. Spread open the artichoke leaves so the breadcrumb mixture gets down into the leaves. Sprinkle over the top of the artichoke as well. Repeat for each artichoke.
• In a large stock pot or Dutch Oven, fill the pot with water about halfway up the pot.. Add the lemon peels into the pot of water. (the lemons you previously squeezed into the water to clean the artichokes) Add the stuffed artichokes into the pot of water. The water line should come up to about the halfway mark of each artichoke.
• Drizzle each stuffed artichoke with plenty of olive oil. About 1-2 tbsp. of oil drizzled on each. Then, season the top of each artichoke with liberally with kosher salt and pepper.
• Bring the pot of water to a rolling boil. Once the pot of water is boiling lower to a low simmer and cover the pot completely. Steam the artichokes about 40-45 minutes or until the leaves of the artichokes easily come loose from the base when you tug on them.
• Remove the artichokes and place into a serving dish family style or serve each in an individual separate bowl. Melt the butter and give each person about 1-2 tbsp. of melted butter in a ramekin.
• You eat the artichokes by plucking each leaf, dipping in the melted butter and scarping the fleshy artichoke and stuffing off of each leaf with your mouth.
• Once all the leaves are gone. you will get to the bottom of the artichoke which is the heart. Pull away the little stems (like green little hairs) and reveal the heart. Dip the heart into the melted butter and savor the BEST PART! However, this can be highly debated. LOL
• ENJOY!

Notes

How to Prepare and Clean Artichokes:

1. First, cut off the bottoms to make the artichokes stand upright on their own without wobbling.

2. Then, cut the tops off the artichokes,  so you can spread open the leaves to stuff.

3. Next, using kitchen shears snip off any of the pointy, sharp, hard tops of the leaves.

4. Fill a bowl with water and squeeze two lemons into the water. (Save the lemons after you squeeze them for the cooking process.) Then, add the artichokes top side down into the lemon water and let them soak in the water for about 5-10 minutes. Finally, remove them from the water, spray them with fresh water, and place them top side down onto paper towels to drain, drip, and dry before stuffing and cooking!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!