Trying Hard To ‘Think Spring’ – Parsley, Garlic and Parmigiano-Stuffed Artichokes

Cleaned-out Artichoke

With artichokes on sale for 98 cents each (better than the rabbit we bought the other week!), I just had to pick a few up. For some reason, I only grabbed two thinking I would make an appetizer or a side-dish with them. Well, let me tell you, this slight adaptation of a Mario Batali artichoke recipe can actually be eaten as a main if you buy large ones. The husband was still a bit hungry afterwards (our artichokes were on the small side) and our breath smelled like delicious garlic until about noon the next day, but this is a recipe I will make over and over and over again. So easy and simple and, if you’re a garlic-lover, you’ll never stuff your artichoke with breadcrumbs again. I also recommend cooking them in halves because not only is it easier to remove that damn choke, but I think the presentation is beautiful and it’s really easy to eat. Next time I’m going to chop up some capers and throw them into the mix. I’d serve with a piece of a baguette so you can “choop” up all that lovely garlic-parsley infused oil! Also, make sure you plan your cooking based on the fact that you must boil the artichokes for a good amount of time before you oven-roast them. Ok? Now, bring on the spring with this lovely artichoke recipe!

Artichoke stuffed with parsley, garlic and parmigiano

PARSLEY, GARLIC AND PARMIGIANO-STUFFED ARTICHOKES
(Recipe is for 2 artichokes, adapted from Mario Batali recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 2 artichokes (the bigger the better)
  • 1 lemon
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup of parmigiano reggiano
  • about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • dash of peperoncino (optional)

What to do:

  1. Boil some water.
  2. Remove the outer layers of the artichoke. Trim the rest of the artichoke leaves but cutting off the sharp edges with a knife.
  3. When water comes to a boil, slice your lemon in half and squeeze the lemon Artichoke w/ Choke vs. One w/ Choke Removedjuice into the water along with the lemon halves. Place your whole artichokes in the water and boil for 20 minutes.
  4. After it’s done boiling, remove from water, drain and allow to cool a bit. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  5. Prep your garlic, parsley and cheese (along with the optional peperoncino) and mix in a bowl with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. These dry ingredients will be moistened with extra olive oil on top to drizzle the chokes with during cooking.
  6. Cut your cooled artichokes in half and with a paring knife, or other small knife, cut out the hairy and sharp ‘choke’ from both halves. Look at pictures at left of the artichoke with and without the choke.
  7. Put artichokes in a baking dish and “stuff” your artichokes in between the leaves with the garlic/parsley/cheese mixture and make sure to spoon some in the well of the sliced artichoke. Add any reserved olive oil that’s left to the pan.
  8. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the artichoke is soft in the middle with browned edges. Spoon on some of the extra olive oil from the bottom of your baking pan onto your cooked artichokes.

***Thanks to Ellie at Weeknight Gourmet for trying this recipe tonight. She was a trooper by ‘winging it’ when I didn’t put how much olive oil was necessary. Great job, Ellie and thanks for giving me the head’s up that I needed to add to the recipe!
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25 thoughts on “Trying Hard To ‘Think Spring’ – Parsley, Garlic and Parmigiano-Stuffed Artichokes

  1. Hey, hey…great minds think alike…I’m working with artichokes today too!

    Cheese & ‘chokes were made for each other, just like Amy & Jonny, eh? lol

  2. The artichoke half looks stunning. You would definitely be able to persuade me now to try artichoke.
    It’s a joy to visit your foodblog and read so many interesting posts.

  3. I just came back from the store with a hunk of parmesan and two beautiful, large and heavy artichokes – ran out after reading this recipe. Can’t wait to try it, making it for dinner tonight. Check out my blog later in the week to see the results!

  4. Thanks for the idea! Our family has been eating artichokes since… well ever. We’ve never had stuffed artichokes though which is odd.

    I had a small variation on this, I toasted a small amount of almonds and pine nuts and combined them with the cheese, garlic, parsley and olive oil. Then covered the bottom with foil (leaving the cut half exposed) and tossed them on the grill. Very, very delicious!

    Eric

  5. Hi again! Thanks for responding on my blog! I made the artichokes tonight, read through the recipe and read through again but didn’t see how much olive oil to pour into the mix or into the pan so I winged it. I coated the pan with oil first, set the chokes in and then drizzled what I thought would be enough to hold the parsley/parm/garlic mix together. I ended up adding a bit more to both the pan and drizzled over the chokes halfway through cooking, not sure exactly how much. OMG, these were sooooooo good. I couldn’t get enough of the stuffing and the chokes were perfectly cooked and moist. Thank you for a recipe, looking forward to hearing how much oil to add next time!

  6. PERFECT! Well, Ellie, you were a cook after my own heart tonight. I actually didn’t put how much olive oil in the recipe because I figured everyone’s tastes are different (in fact, I just looked at my ingredient list and, like an idiot, i even left it off – fixing that now), but I will update the recipe to say about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup total. It all depends on how much drizzle oil you’d want. I like alot of drizzle oil, so I probably used about 1/2 a cup. When you mix the dry ingredients together with the olive oil, there should be more olive oil than you think, it shouldn’t just make the dry stuff wet. You actually made me think about how I did it and I like your way – coating the pan with oil, then stuffing the artichokes. This way you probably still were able to create enough infused olive oil to drizzle on throughout the cooking process/at the end. I had extra oil even after we ate all the artichoke and I dipped some baguette into it. Whoa, how good is that oil! I’m so glad they worked out for you and I’m going to update the recipe now.

    Good going, Ellie!!

    Amy

  7. I love artichokes. There are so many great artichoke recipes floating around at the moment. I’m hooked on stuffing mine with bread crumbs so shall certainly try your method in the future. How many stars do I need to highlight from your blog? 🙂 *starred*

  8. What a fantastic way to prepare artichokes! I rarely make them because my husband is not a fan…bet this one will change his mind!

    Thanks for sharing.

  9. When you make an arichoke this way are you able to eat the leaves? If not is there any recipe you know of where that is possible? Thanks and God bless

  10. Hi, Ashley. Good question – no, you don’t eat the leaves. In fact, there aren’t any ways to eat the whole leaf of an artichoke that I know of… they are tough and dry. In fact, you have to cut the tips off often because they really can poke you and it hurts when you try and pull the leaves out. What you do eat is the actual middle part of the artichoke (AFTER you pull out the bristly choke shown in the picture above – the one w/ 2 artichokes… see the one w/ the purple color in the middle? that’s the choke… it’s very sharp and can really hurt if eaten. in fact, i believe it may have been named ‘choke’ cause that’s what it causes you to do!). The middle is soft after it’s cooked and that is what you see pickled in jars at the store or cut up for artichoke dip. The leaves that are sticking into the choke you eat – but only up to about 1 inch or so up the leaf. And, in fact, you don’t actually eat it – you kind of use your teeth to scrape the ‘meat’ off the leaf. I hope this makes sense!

    If you want to eat an artichoke whole, you will need to cook it first, then remove all the leaves to reveal the meaty inside (don’t forget to scrape the ‘meat’ off each leaf you pluck!! Dip it into some ailloli/aioli or olive oil!). But, I can honestly say I’ve never eaten an artichoke leaf whole and even after boiling or steaming one for an hour, they are still not tender enough to try to eat it all.

    Good luck with your artichokes!! – amy and jonny

  11. I wish I had read this article earlier. I was invited to a friends house for lunch and she said she was treating us by cooking an artichoke, one for each of us. This was the first time I had really ever hung out with her so I didn’t want to insult her by saying, how in the heck do you eat this thing? So, after at chewed up three leaves and I got to my FOURTH, I couldn’t chew another one up, I had to spit it out. (while her head was turned and she was talking to one of her kids) Then I noticed she was scraping the meat off and keep her leaves in a pile! OH! BUT I got to the heart and didn’t realize it had a “choke”. I felt it in my mouth but I couldn’t spit it out b/c she was telling me a story and looking right at me, so I swallowed it and needless to say, my throat hurt all afternoon.

    I was a very kind gesture. Next time I will be brave enough to ask questions. The meat was VERY good and it was a treat, painful but a delicious chewy painful treat! : )

  12. I finally found a good price on artichokes and I tried this. And it was GOOD! I didn’t have any parsley in the house, but I do have an oregano plant in my window, so I substituted with that. The stuffing was incredible, served with a side of herbed polenta. Artichokes are so much work though, to cook and to eat. This is definitely a recipe for when I want to be in my kitchen for a while and eat with oily fingers. Good times!

  13. So true, Amanda. Artichokes are kind of a pain in the a$$ to make and eat. They just can’t be prepared in 10 minutes no matter what you do. I will say, though, cutting them in half or quarters makes it so much easier to clean the annoying choke out. That’s the saving grace of this recipe! I think a side of polenta makes a great meal. Thanks for giving it a try! Oregano makes another great combo – good idea!

  14. I made this last night and it was sooo good. John liked it even though “he doesn’t like artichokes”. thanks guys!

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