Stuffed Artichokes

Carciofi Ripieni

Ok, whilst this dish will be nostalgic for all of my Italian family and buddies who grew up with this dish during the spring months, it will seem very foreign and bizarre to anyone who has never seen artichokes done this way. During spring, artichokes are in season and you can get lovely big ones everywhere, even the large supermarkets sell them. My suggestion is to make sure you choose large ones that are nice and green and leaves tightly packed. The key to stuffing them is to firstly take away the outer layer then gently pry open the rest of the vegetable to stuff in the meat. Once you stuff them , they are gently braised for a couple of hours and when you eat them you do so by a combination of hands, fork and spoon: firstly, you have the succulent leaves that you pick by hand, one by one and gently scrape the soft fibres from the core with your teeth. (for those of you not sure how to eat the whole artichoke there are many videos on youtube), then pick at the meat with your fork and finally, slurp on the soupy juices with your spoon. It may seem like a lot of effort but please trust me when I say that it will be a lovely culinary experience that you will remember fondly. The meat absorbs the artichoke fragrance and flavour and if that’s not enough to entice you, artichokes are renowned for their healing properties. I really hope you try this one when artichokes are in season.

Ingredients

4 large artichokes

Olive oil

1 onion roughly chopped

2 carrots roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

For the stuffing

500 grams beef mince

1 egg

½ cup parmigiano cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup milk

¼ cup fresh parsley chopped

Salt and pepper

½ cup gently cooked and cooled red onion

1 clove grated garlic

Method

1. Trim the base of the artichoke and take off the outer tough leaves

2. Mix all the remaining ingredients together by hand and divide into 4

3. Stuff each artichoke with the meat filling

4. Drizzle olive oil into a saucepan with the onion and carrots

5. Layer the artichokes over the carrots and onion, season with more salt and pepper and cover with water.

6. Leave it to gently simmer with lid on for approximately 2 hours

7. Serve with some of the soupy juices and vegetables and some bread to mop up

Prepare for a culinary adventure !