Side Dishes, Vegetable
8 medium to large artichokes
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 green onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon
These are delicious as a side dish, but very messy to eat. You must use your hands and only the tender meaty tips of the leaves are eaten. You scrape off the tender portion with your teeth and place the rest of the tough leaf on a waste bowl or to the side of your dish. As you work your way to the centre leaves, more and more of the leaf can be eaten as the leaves increase in tenderness towards the centre. The crumbs are also eaten as they take on the flavour of the artichoke. When all the leaves are removed you may sometimes find that the artichoke has a bearded part at its stem end. This occurs if the artichoke has been allowed to grow too long before harvesting. Remove this bearded section and the rest of the tender stem may be eaten. This sounds messy, but worth the trouble. Artichokes are one of my children’s favourite vegetables.
Tear of outer tough layers of artichokes and cut off thorny tips and stem end so the artichoke can sit on its end.
Place artichokes in a bowl of cold water and juice of the lemon. Make sure artichokes are immersed in the lemon water.
In a separate bowl mix crumbs, cheese, green onions, salt and pepper, and parley and add oil and thoroughly work it into the crumb mixture.
Drain artichokes and spread leaves open as much as you can without breaking the artichoke in two.
Place as much of the crumb mixture as you can into each artichokes centre and place artichokes in a pan so they all fit snuggly together and hold each other up.
Place a little (1 cm) water in bottom of the pan, cover with a lid and heat on medium setting and reduce to low when water begins to boil.
Continue cooking until artichokes are tender.