Italian Stuffed Artichokes
No holiday or special occasion is complete without cheesy, garlicy, lemony stuffed artichokes. The only thing worse than having no artichokes is having dry artichokes. This recipe, made with simple pantry ingredients, may seem like a few steps, but it really lets the flavor of the artichoke itself shine through, resulting in plump, juicy and delicious leaves and hearts and golden crispy crumbs.
Ingredients
- 4 large artichokes
- 4-5 lemons
- 2 large cloves of finely minced garlic
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup or more of freshly grated Locatelli Pecorino Romano Cheese
- Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped plus more for garnish
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- EVOO
- Chicken Stock White Wine (that you would drink)
Instructions
- Slice off the artichoke stems plus a little so that the bottom of the artichokes sit flat. With kitchen shears, trim the pointy tip of each leaf. Rub the cut parts of the artichokes with lemon to prevent browning.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and squeeze the juice of 2 lemons into it and leave the squeezed lemons in the pot. After the water boils, add a generous pinch of salt.
- Add the artichokes to the boiling water and cover with a snug cover so they stay submerged. When the bottoms are fork tender (about 20 minutes), remove and the artichokes, placing them upside down on a cooling rack or baking sheet and allowing them to drain and cool completely. You can also toss in the stems if you want to drain and finely chop them up and include them in the stuffing, which is optional.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine breadcrumbs, eggs, cheese, parsley, and a sprinkle of olive oil until they are fully incorporated.
- Spread apart the leaves of each artichoke, exposing the center. With a spoon or paring knife, or your fingers, remove the choke in the center – the purplish-hued leaves and fuzzy textured center. This will form a larger cavity for more stuffing.
- Lightly stuff each leaf of the artichoke as well as the center. Make sure to work it in between all the inner and outer leaves without over packing them.
- Place the stuffed artichokes in baking pan so they are fitted tightly. Add about 1” of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a couple drops of white wine on top each, as well as a drizzle of olive oil. Brush olive oil on a sheet of aluminum foil (oil side down) and secure around the baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes. While cooking, it is important to baste the artichokes a couple of times with the stock from the bottom of the baking pan.
- After 30 minutes, or until a knife easily slides into the base of the artichoke, uncover, sprinkle the tops with additional grated cheese and broil them for about 3-5 minutes more so that the breadcrumbs on top are crispy and golden brown. Allow them to cool and serve them slightly warm with additional parsley to garnish and and extra drizzle of stock from the bottom of the baking dish, and lemon.
