March through May is the season for artichoke and for me, Stuffed artichoke with butter dip.
Artichokes are such interesting things. We consider the artichoke a vegetable, even though it’s a thistle and more specifically, the part that we eat (and that most people ever see in the store) is actually a flower bud — and sometimes called a head.
In Sweden we usually eat artichoke bud boiled in salted water. Then we dip the leaves in salted butter and eat it by pulling the flesh from the leaves with our teeth. In Greece usually when we cook artichokes we only use the hart of the artichoke. We’ll find the heart deep inside at the core. Everything else is thrown away. Greece is famous for their stuffed vegetable like tomatoes, pepper, zucchini etc. I’m combining the Greek and the Swedish way to cook my artichokes. Stuffed artichoke and butter with salt on the side to dip the leaves and end we’ll have the hart. Nothing is thrown away.
- I like to do the stuffing with wholegrain rice but you can use white rice if you want to.
- Perfect for vegetarians and vegan ( just skip the butter dip) .
Once you have tried this recipe, you will love it
How to prep the artichokes.
Cut off the top of the artichoke.
Use your finger to gently pull open the center leaves of the artichokes. Pull out the inner tender yellow/pink artichoke leaves. Use a small metal spoon to scrape and scoop out all of the inner fuzzy choke.
If you liked Stuffed Artichoke, you may also like:
Spaghetti with Cherry tomatoes & Parmesan cheese
Stuffed Artichoke
Equipment
- 1 Big pot
- 1 electrical blender
Ingredients
- 4 Artichokes buds medium sized
- 1 Onion
- 250 ml Tomatoes passed
- 20 Spearmint leaves
- 200 g Rice wholegrain parboiled
- 100 ml Olive oil extra virgin
- 2 Bouillon cube chicken or vegetable cube
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Cut off the top of the artichoke.
- Use your finger to gently pull open the center leaves of the artichokes. Pull out the inner tender yellow/pink artichoke leaves. Use a small metal spoon to scrape and scoop out all of the inner fuzzy choke. Rinse
- Add the onion, spearmint leaves and passed tomatoes in an electrical mini chopper.
- Rinse the rice and add the onion mixture, salt, pepper and 1/2 of the olive oil.
- Fill the artichokes with the rice mixture and put them in a casserole.
- Add water and cover 2/3 of the artichokes .then add the bouillon cubes, some passed tomato and remaining olive oil.
- Put a lid on the casserole. Let it boil for 15 minutes and turn down the heat to medium.
- Let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
- When the rice is soft and ready, serve the artichoke with the salted butter dip (butter with salt mixed together) on the side.
Notes
Βon appétit
