Stuffed Artichoke Recipe

I absolutely love artichokes but was never thrilled with the way my mom made them. Just. Too. Heavy. So, last summer I did a bit of experimenting and came up with this yummy version to enjoy while these wonderful vegetables are in season!

For the Artichokes

Select artichokes that have leaves which are tightly packed. If the leaves are separating from each other, your artichokes are not fresh! The artichokes should be firm and heavy. Don’t worry if there is brown or purple on the leaves.

  1. Have a stainless steel bowl or a pot of water ready into which you have squeezed the juice of one lemon. Keep the lemon and put the pot aside.
  2. Pull off some of the leaves from the bottom and then trim the stem of the artichoke and score it. Immediately rub the cut end with the lemon.
  3. Cut about ¼” off the top of the artichoke. Again, rub the cut part of it with the lemon.
  4. Trim each thorny outer leaf to square it off. Rub the lemon all over.
  5. Toss the lemon into your bowl of water along with the artichokes (be sure they are covered in water) and let them sit for about 10 minutes.
  6. In the meantime, add about 5-6” of water to your pot.
  7. Toss into the pot a medium onion quartered, a tablespoon of olive oil, some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Now you are ready to steam your artichokes!
  8. Let the water come to a boil, add the artichokes, stem side down, cover and reduce the heat. The artichokes will take about 45 minutes to an hour.
  9. Keep an eye on your water level as you may have to add more. You will be able to tell that they are done when you can easily pull off a bottom leaf. Remove with a slotted spoon and let sit to cool.
  10. Once easy to handle, spread open the leaves to expose the choke at the center. The choke will come out easily with a twist and then you can carefully remove the hard, fuzzy part with a small spoon. Be careful not remove the heart, which is the yummiest part of the artichoke.

For the Rice Salad Stuffing

Here you get to be creative! Use veggies and herbs that you like.

  1. 2 cups of Basmati rice prepared as per label instructions, cooled.
  2. 2 cups of assorted veggies, such as radishes, tomatoes, carrot ribbons, scallions, chopped.
  3. ½ cup torn, mixed leafy greens, sprouts, and herbs. Use your favorites!
  4. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Once the rice is cooled, add the veggies, greens, etc.
  6. A simple olive oil, wine vinegar plus lemon dressing is perfect for this rice salad!

You can prepare the rice salad a day in advance. This amount will easily fill 4-5 artichokes.

Karen Sagaspe is a Rhode Island native who enjoys food, wine, entertaining and travel. Cooking for friends and family is one of her favorite things to do. She has traveled extensively, lived in Florida, Paris, France and Cape Town, South Africa. When she isn’t in the kitchen, Karen is probably reading a book surrounded by her two Shih Tzu.