Italian Stuffed Artichokes

Years ago my MIL used to make these. I had never heard of them before that. I tasted them at her house and fell in love, they are my favorite. So whenever she made them she would save me one.

I remember being in our first apt. and being quite pregnant. My  hubby came home from her house one day and she sent one home with him. I thought that was so nice of her. But I knew I had to learn how to make them one day. I never grew up eating artichokes so I didn't have a clue. So I told her to call me the next time she makes them, I wanted to learn. And here it is.

When I say small artichokes I do not mean the baby ones. I think they would just be too much work for this. I mean the smallest ones you can find of a normal size choke. The reason I say this is, once stuffed, this is huge. So it you want it to look pretty, smaller would be better. However if you don't care, then buy the large ones and cut them in half to serve.
 

Stuffed Artichokes with Tomato Sauce Serves 4

4 small artichokes or 2 med or larger
1 large lemon
A couple of garlic clove, don't have to peel them
A tsp or two of whole peppercorns and 1 tsp. salt
A couple springs of thyme, lemon thyme could be used too
2 sprigs rosemary
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1lb. ground beef
1/2c. grated Romano Cheese
2 garlic cloves
1 Tb. chopped fresh parsley
1 egg
1/2c. bread crumbs, plain or seasoned
Salt and Pepper
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1 jar of Classico Tomato and Basil sauce or equivalent in homemade sauce or
canned tomato sauce with basil added.

 In a large pot, put lemons, cut up and juice squeezed into a pot filled about 3/4 with water. (all the lemon goes in, I squeeze for juice to quickly make sure chokes don't get brown.) Throw in a few cloves garlic, these don't have to be peeled or anything. I used about 4 or 5 but I love garlic. Toss in S & P and herbs. Bring to a boil while cleaning chokes. 

One cleaned and one not trimmed yet so you can see what to do.


Cut tips off the leaves, cut off stem, remove any really small or bad looking leaves. Cut across top about a half in. to cut off most of the tips. Theses tips and the ones on the leaves all must be cut because they have a thorn on them. Artichokes are members of the Thistle family. Once you do that, toss them into the water.

Let them cook until a fork stuck into the stem part goes in fairly easy. You do not want to overcook them or they will fall apart before you can stuff them.

When tender and fork goes in, remove choke from water with tongs. Hold upside down over water to drain it and then put upside down on paper toweling to cool.  Shake them well in this position too because the peppercorns can get stuck in there and are a pain when your eating it later on. 

In the meantime make the meat stuffing. I use this to also make my meatballs, so you could make a bunch, stuff these and then fry or bake up the rest for meatballs for sauce. I often do this then just freeze the meatballs. Saves me time later on.

Mix meat mixture together. Take an artichoke and turn it right side up. At this point if your feeling confident or adventurous, you could spread open the leaves and remove the hairy part of the choke so you don't have to deal with it later. I don't tho, too lazy and in a hurry most times lol.

Begin to stuff the artichoke by spreading leaves apart and putting a bit of the meat mixture on most of them. You don't have to do them all but you do want to do most, after all this is a dinner, not a snack. Then I stuff the middles, mounding it on the top. If you cleaned the fuzzy choke out you could stuff it over that with meat.

Take another large pot, such as a dutch oven and put a cup of water on the bottom, top with the stuffed artichokes, squishing them in if necessary. Pour the sauce over the top. Heat on high heat till all is bubbling, then lower and cover with a lid. These may burn on the bottoms if the heat is too high so watch it. Cook until the meat in the center is done, maybe 45min. to an hr. Depends on your heat.

These can be served just as they are, they are quite hearty. Top with more grated cheese.This is quite saucy and you want that. You dip the leaves into it before you eat each one.  Or you could make some pasta for the sauce or even rice. Or just serve it with a nice crusty bread. When stuffed if you used too large of a choke, cut in half then to serve. I often do that.

Remember artichokes are finger food so expect to get messy hands, have napkins on hand. To eat, you pull off a leaf and scrape the top part off with your teeth. In this way you get the artichoke meat, the stuffing and the sauce all in one. I often have fork on hand anyway to eat what falls off or when I use pasta. 

Chicken and Artichoke Sandwich

Last nite I made a roasted chicken for dinner. I like to do that now and then even tho the man doesn't like chicken much. And hes so fussy he will only eat the breast part. But that just means there's lots of chicken leftover for me to use in other things. So I strip the meat off the bones and freeze the bones to make stock from later on.

Today I decided to make chicken salad. Long ago I had a chicken salad sandwich when I first moved to Ca. I liked it so much I never forgot it. It had artichoke hearts in it and was on a croissant and was very good. And so today I decided to make it from memory and go sit on my deck out back.

It was such a gorgeous day again.....so I put my sandwich on a plate, tossed on some grapes to snack on after and got an iced tea. I parked my butt in my wicker rocking chair, kicked off my shoes and put my feet up. As I sat there and just stopped for a moment.....it was sheer heaven. The birds were chirping, I even heard a wood pecker off in the distance. There was a breeze blowing gently and the trees made a shhhh sound. Everything is so green,,,,the sun felt warm on my skin and when it was realllllllly quiet I could hear the roar of the ocean.

Add to all this peace a perfect sandwich and it was a wonderful day. 

 Chicken and Artichoke Sandwich

These measurements are approximate but you can use what you have .

2 c. cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 c. marinated artichokes, drained well, then chopped
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Lots of fresh ground pepper
Mayonnaise about 1/2 c. but you want just enough to bind it not drown it :)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread on a croissant. I didn't have any around so I put it on a nice homemade herbal white bread. You could also add some fresh dill to this too. The marinated artichokes add alot of their own flavor tho so if they are strong, other herbs could get lost. This makes enough for 3-4 sandwiches.

Pan Roasted Chicken with Artichokes, Potato and Bacon

I went to Trader Joes the other day with a friend and bought a big container of baby artichokes. They grow em out here so we get lucky sometimes and can find baby ones in the markets. I wandered online looking for stuff to make and I ended up making this one .......It came out really good.

Pan Roasted Chicken with Artichokes, Potato and Bacon

• 6 large chicken breasts with skin (Organic or Free range)
• 18 Baby Artichokes
• 1 Large Onion sliced
• 2 Lemons
• 1 bunch of Thyme
• 1½ cups White Wine
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/3 lb slab Bacon diced and rendered
• 18 Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes Boiled in salty water till cooked through
• 1 ½ cup Home Made Chicken Stock
• 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 3 Tbsp chopped Parsley
• 1 Tbsp all purpose Flour
• Olive Oil

Fill a large pot a little more than halfway with water. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into the water; also place the lemon into the water. Then add the onion, wine, half of the thyme and the bay leaf.

Cut a ½ inch off the tops of all the artichokes, and then cut a 1/16 inch off the bottom of the stem of each. Place in the pot and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. At 20 minutes check them by slicing one, the knife should glide through like a cooked potato. Use this to judge how much longer they need. Once done shock in an ice bath.

Peel the outer leaves off each artichoke until you get to the tender ones and then trim1/16 of an inch off the stem and middle all the way around each artichoke. Finally cut each one in ¼s ( you may sub store bought grilled or marinated artichokes to skip these steps but please don’t use canned ones)

In a large pre heated pan add a little oil and place each breast skin slide down. Allow to cook on top off the range for 4 minutes at a med high heat, then place in a 400°F oven and cook for about 15-18 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, pre-heat another pan at med-high heat. Add 2Tbs of olive oil and 2Tbs of butter then add potatoes 1 by 1, crushing each in your hand before placing in the pan. Finish by adding the artichokes and bacon. Cook on top of the range for 5 minutes stirring every now and then. Place the pan in the oven for 25 minutes, stir every now and then.

When the Chicken is ready, remove from pan and set aside under tin foil. Place pan on the range at med-low heat then add 1Tbs of AP flour and stir into pan juices when incorporated add chicken stock and thyme. Reduce by ½ and set aside. Place potatoes in middle back of plate, then place breast in front and add sauce (always nice with haricot verts).
Serves: 6

***I added a bit of garlic powder to the potatoes when I cooked them, I added thyme then too. I only had boneless , skinless chicken tenders on hand so I used them. I think it really does need the chicken with skin on it because this was dry. I added stock and thickened it like it said but the whole thing got sucked up by the chicken and veggies. I also cooked the potatoes in the broth made by the artichokes to save time.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms with Tomato and Bread Salad

I stumbled onto this recipe and it sounds so good. Its a vegan meal pretty much unless you dont eat cheese or dairy either. I could eat this for dinner but I know my boyfriend would be looking for the meat so if I decide to make it, I might throw a chop or burger on the grill too while these were cooking..... Just for him........cuz I love him :)

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms with Panzanella

8 portabello mushroom caps
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing mushrooms, plus 1/4 cup
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained well
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic, grated with microplane or small side box grater
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
6 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, about 20, torn
4 cups crusty bread, torn or coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

Panzanella, stale bread salad, requires that you soak and wring out the bread before assembling the salad. If you make this with fresh crusty bread or the bread has staled a bit but not hardened, the juice from the tomatoes should be enough to tenderize the bread's crusty edges.
Preheat grill to medium-high and oven to 425 degrees F.

Using a damp towel, brush mushroom caps to clean. Using a pastry brush, coat the caps with extra-virgin olive oil and grill with lid down or roast about 5 to 6 minutes, turning once, until tender but still firm at center.

Wring the spinach out in a clean kitchen towel. Separate the spinach with your fingers and combine with artichokes, ricotta cheese, egg yolk, grated garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, and nutmeg. Remove mushroom caps from grill.

To portion-control the filling, divided the stuffing into 4 parts then just split each of those evenly between 2 caps. Sprinkle the caps with Parmigiano and cook 5 to 6 minutes more in the preheated oven to set filling and lightly brown tops.

Do not seed tomatoes. Chop and place in a salad bowl. Add basil, bread, onions, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, lots of salt and pepper and toss with your hands to combine.