Lemon Studded Artichokes Recipes

THE ULTIMATE STUFFED ARTICHOKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Fill a steamer pot with a few inches of water, and place a steamer basket on top. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer.
• Use a Chef's knife to cut off about 1-inch from the top of each artichoke, and enough off of the bottom to form a nice base. Remove any especially tough outer leaves and discard them. Then use kitchen scissors to cut off the sharp tips of the leaves.
• Using your hands, carefully pull the leaves away from the middle of the artichoke -- just enough so that you can see down to the choke. Now use a spoon to reach down and gently scrape away and discard all of the fuzz, to reveal a clean heart. (See above image.) This will take a bit of muscle, but must be done. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice inside and over each one.
• Place the artichokes, stem-end up, in the steamer basket, cover, and steam until they are almost tender, about 35 minutes. (They'll finish cooking in the oven.) Check for doneness by pulling off an outer leaf - it should come off fairly easily. Set them aside to cool.
• While the artichokes are steaming, preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over low-medium heat. Let it simmer until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Pour in about ⅓ cup of lemon juice and the wine. Stir and let this simmer on low heat for about 4 minutes. Add the bread crumbs and parsley, stir to blend and remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper (here's how), and set aside to cool.
• Place the artichokes, sitting on their bases, in a baking dish.
• Use a spoon and/or your hands to carefully fill the center of each artichoke with the stuffing -- fill it to maximum capacity! (If you think there's too much stuffing, don't worry just pack it in.) Then fill all of the spaces between the leaves as much as possible. Sprinkle the top of each one with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan.
• Place the stuffed artichokes in the preheated 375°F oven and bake until the breadcrumbs are golden and the cheese has melted, 15 to 20 minutes.
• I like serving these whole for sharing.

STUFFED ARTICHOKES

Steps:

• Mix 3 cups breadcrumbs, 3 grated garlic cloves, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup each grated parmesan, pecorino, chopped parsley and olive oil in a bowl. Trim 4 large artichokes (see Cook's Note), removing the stems. Separate the leaves; stuff the crumb mixture between each. Stand upright in a steamer basket over simmering water, cover and steam over medium-low heat, adding more water as needed, until tender, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and some of the cooking liquid.

LEMON BRAISED ARTICHOKES

Steps:

• Bring 1/2 cup each water and white wine, two 9-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, 3 wide strips lemon zest and 2 tablespoons each lemon juice and olive oil to a simmer in a large skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring halfway through, until the artichokes are tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and add 2 minced garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons each olive oil and chopped parsley and mint. Cook, stirring, until the garlic softens, 1 to 2 more minutes.

THE BEST STUFFED ARTICHOKES

Steps:

• Cut top 1/4 of an artichoke off and discard. Trim off the top 1/2 inch from remaining leaves. Cut off bottom inch from stalk to create a flat bottom. Turn artichoke upside down and bang on surface to loosen the leaves. Zest 3/4 teaspoon of lemon zest from the lemon and set aside. Cut lemon in half and rub cut leaves and stem of artichoke with lemon. Repeat artichoke prep with remaining artichokes.
• Combine reserved lemon zest with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and stir well.
• Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly into all the artichoke leaves, avoiding the thistle leaves in the direct center. Work mixture evenly into each crevice of each artichoke until all of the mixture is used.
• Pour water in the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Set artichokes in the pot so that they are touching, so that they may remain upright during cooking. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until the leaves release very easily, about 1 hour.
• Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with more parsley if desired. Serve warm or room temperature.

ITALIAN STUFFED ARTICHOKES

Steps:

• Soak artichokes in cold water for 30 minutes.
• To prepare the artichokes: Cut off stems of the artichokes with a sharp knife. Make sure the cut is straight so artichoke will stand flat.
• Slice off ¼ inch straight from the top of each artichoke (the prickly part).
• Stand the artichoke upside down and push firmly on the stem side to slightly open the leaves making room to catch the stuffing. Using scissors, cut the tip of each leaf straight across.
• Squeeze half of the lemon juice inside the artichoke.
• In a large bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, grated cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Fill each leaf with the stuffing until artichokes are well packed.
• Drizzle with olive oil then squeeze more lemon juice over the artichokes. Sprinkle with a little salt over the top and sides.
• Put artichokes standing up into a wide pot large enough to hold the artichokes. Add enough water to cover just to the top of the bottom row of leaves of the artichokes.
• Add 1 tablespoon of salt in the pot. Cover and let the water come to a boil. Lower the heat and let the artichokes simmer for 45 minutes or until leaves are tender. Serve warm.

RICE STUFFED ARTICHOKES WITH LEMON SAUCE

Steps:

• Fill a large pot (a stock pot works well) with cold water; roll the lemon on the counter with your palm to "loosen" juices, then cut in half and squeeze the juice into the pot of water and toss in the squeezed lemon halves.
• Trim the artichokes: cut off the top quarter from the artichokes and discard, remove the bottom and tough outer layer of stem, snap off the tough outer leaves from the base, remove dark green areas of the base.
• Cut artichokes in quarters and remove the choke and small purple leaves.
• Add trimmed and quartered artichokes to the pot of water, cover, and simmer over medium heat until tender, about 45 minutes; drain and set aside to let cool.
• (Microwave method: cut off stems and loose outer leaves from artichoke. Cut of 1-inch from tops. Snip off sharp leaf tips. Brush cut edges with lemon juice. Place artichokes and water in a casserole. Cover with vented clear plastic wrap. Microwave, covered, on 100% power for 7 to 9 minutes or just till tender, rotating casserole a half-turn after 4 minutes. Let stand, covered, while preparing stuffing.)
• In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter; saute the green onion and carrot for 5 to 7 minutes, until vegetables begin to brown.
• Stir in the ground sage, coating the vegetables well.
• Add the cooked rice and stir well, and saute for an additional 5 minutes; remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place artichoke quarters in a lightly buttered baking dish.
• Spoon rice stuffing onto each artichoke, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, until the Parmesan browns a little.
• Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: in a saucepan stir together the chicken broth, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, cornstarch, and white pepper. Heat over medium temperature for about 5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.
• In another bowl, whisk HALF of the hot sauce mixture into the egg yolk, combine well; then return the yolk mixture into the remaining sauce mixture and simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes to desired consistency. Check sauce for any possibly needed additional salt and pepper.
• Transfer stuffed artichokes to a warm serving platter.
• Pour sauce around the artichokes.

LEMON-STUDDED ARTICHOKES RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse artichokes well; trim stems. With scissors, snip 1 in. off the tops. Snip the tip end from each leaf. Brush cut edges with the lemon juice. Spread artichokes leaves open. Using a small knife, carefully cut around each center choke. Scoop out and discard the fuzzy centers. Cut each of the lemon slices into six wedges; place between artichoke leaves. Place artichokes in an 8-in. microwave-safe dish. Combine butter and garlic; pour over artichokes. Cover and microwave on high for 10-12 minutes or until artichokes are tender. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with garlic butter from the dish.

STUFFED ARTICHOKES WITH LEMON ZEST, ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a large bowl with water and squeeze juice from two lemon halves into water. Cut off artichoke stems, peel them with a vegetable peeler, rub them all over with remaining lemon half (this prevents browning) and drop them into water.
• Use a heavy, sharp knife to cut top 1 1/2 inches off an artichoke. Pull out pale inner leaves from center. At the bottom, where leaves were, is a furry bed, the choke. Use a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully) to scoop out choke. Next, using kitchen shears or a pair of scissors, trim pointy ends from outer leaves of artichoke. As you work, rub lemon half over cut parts of artichoke. When you are finished trimming, drop artichoke into bowl of lemon water. Repeat with remaining artichokes.
• To prepare stuffing, in a large bowl combine lemon zest, bread crumbs, Parmesan, chopped parsley and rosemary. Mince 6 garlic cloves and add to bowl. Finely chop one carrot and add to bowl along with capers, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss.
• In a small roasting pan or baking pan large enough to hold artichokes, scatter onion slices. Add reserved artichoke stems, 4 sprigs parsley and remaining garlic cloves. Slice remaining carrot into rounds and add to pan.
• Holding artichokes over stuffing bowl, stuff choke cavity and in between the leaves with bread crumb mixture. Stand stuffed artichokes upright in pan and generously drizzle olive oil over center of each artichoke.
• Fill pan with water until it reaches 1/4 way up the artichokes. Add wine and remaining salt and pepper to water. Cover pan with foil and poke several holes in foil. Bake artichokes for about 1 1/2 hours, or until tender; when done, a knife should be easily inserted into artichoke and a leaf should be easily pulled out.