Stuffed Artichokes

Sigh. I'm just learning the ins and outs of this blogging thing. My first, and I think hardest, lesson repeats itself. I do something fun, or make a delicious treat. What Fun! I can post this! Er, I could if I took a picture. Dang. Photography isn't something that comes to me naturally or easily. I would rather make something and then just tell the story. As a result, no pictures today. Rats!

All the aforementioned is besides the point, really. The purpose today is to talk about artichokes. Yep, that fancy early spring vegetable that seasonally-obsessed foodies sing raptures about (after they are done with ramps, rhubarb and pea shoots). I admit, I agree that artichokes should be a spring food. But my first reason is that where I live, spring is the only time they aren't ridiculously expensive. Spring is also the only time of year that the vegetable doesn't look like it got run over by a bus, bruised and brown and sad. I happened to find a couple 'chokes in my favorite rob-you-blind natural foods store and brought them home. And proceeded to ignore them for longer than was prudent, really. Here's why. Artichokes can be an ordeal to cook if you are dragging your sore butt home after spin class. Even if you don't trim them, the hour cooking time alone is a hindrance to resolving my low blood sugar. Thankfully, Sunday solved all my time problems and I managed to adapt a Joy of Cooking recipe to fit my needs.
My advice? Find an artichoke or two, find some time and revel in a little time spent on such a delicious result.

Stuffed Artichokes with Arugula and Sharp Provolone

Makes 2

Ingredients:

For the artichokes:

2 large artichokes

1/2 lemon

water

1 glug olive oil (about a tablespoon)

Stuffing:

1/2 cup bread crumbs

3 TB olive oil

1 clove gearlic, minced fine

1 cup arugula, finely chopped

1/4 cup shredded sharp provolone (or another strong cheese, like Parmesan or a good sharp jack, even)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl, mix together all the stuffing ingredients until combined.

Using your hands, peel off 5-6 layers of artichoke leaves. You want to take a good many of the toughest leaves off. With a sharp knife and some care, slice off the top third of the artichoke and then the stem off the bottom. Turn over the artichoke and remove the prickly inner leaves until you see little hairs, or the choke. (My fingers worked best for this.) Scrape off all the choke, using some force, until you see the pale green or yellowish heart. Rinse out the inside to get rid of the last bits. Squeeze a little of the lemon on top of the cut parts to avoid too much discoloration. You'll see some, don't worry, but this step prevents a lot of it. Repeat the above steps for the other artichoke.

In shallow baking dish, nestle your two artichokes next to each other. Mine was a 9" round covered casserole. You could also use a cake pan of the same size or really any baking dish that fits your artichokes and has room for water on the bottom.

Use a teaspoon to fill each artichokes center, half in each. Shred a little extra cheese on top if you are feeling a little decadent.

Pour about a half inch to an inch of water in your dish, avoiding wetting your artichokes unnecessarily. Follow with a glug of olive oil. Put the lid on, if you have one, or cover tightly in aluminum foil.

Bake for at least 45 minutes or until a leaf very easily comes off the head. While this is delicious warm, I have also enjoyed it at room temperature equally well.

Next time, pictures. I hope.