Stuffed Artichokes
My grandfather from Piedmonte used to make these
Recipe Posted on 1st October, 2004
Recipe Source: This is an old Rossignoli family recipe which has been passed down on the Italian side of my family. If you're not experienced at eating whole artichokes, you will need a little training on how to eat these little treasures, as it's not straight forward. Although I'd have to say that I think it's well worth it!
There's a lot of varying opinion within the family as to how is the best way to make these. The basic difference is that some like them with lots of stuffing, and others prefer only a little. I'm on the lots of stuffing side of the fence, so the measurements below reflect this. The only other area of contention is the amount of anchovies used. The recipe below is fairly stingy on the anchovies as I'm often cooking for people at home that don't like the taste of them. If I'm cooking for a group that love anchovies (which is certainly me), I'd put at least 50% to 100% more anchovies into the stuffing. Be careful however, if you do up the anchovies, you won't need to use as much salt!
You need: A wide deep oven dish with a lid (or foil) and a large pot with a lid.
Serves 5-10 (most people eat 1 to 2 artichokes each, depending on whether you serve other dishes with them and/or whether they're big eaters)
Ingredients
10 artichokes - choose the ones with the thickest storks
5 cups dry breadcrumbs
3 large tomatoes, finely diced
2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
100g anchovy fillets, finely chopped
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt
extra olive oil for drizzling over the stuffed artichokes
Method
Take off each artichoke's scruffy outer petals (artichokes are acutally flowers) - you will probably need to take off about 10 petals at most. Cut the woody ends (if any) off the bottom of the storks and remove any leaves from the storks. Cut the storks off the artichoke heads. Peel the storks and then cut them into about 5cm (2 inch) lengths. Pack the artichoke heads and storks into a large pot with a tight fitting lid and put about 3cm (1 inch) of water in the bottom. Bring the artichokes to the boil and then simmer for about 5-7 minutes until they become a little tender. When they're done, drain out the water and let the artichokes cool a little so that they're easy to handle.
To make the stuffing, place all remaining ingredients (except the extra olive oil) into a large bowl and mix VERY WELL with your hands, making sure to break up any clumps of anchovy.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Take the first artichoke head and carefully loosen (spread) the petals with your fingers. Starting from the centre and working out, place a little stuffing into each of the petals, making it sit down as deep into the flower head as possible. When you are finished, the artichoke head will be splayed out and filled with stuffing. Pick it up carefully so that the petals don't fall off and place it into the corner of a wide deep oven dish. Stuff the remaining artichoke heads with the remaining stuffing and pack them tightly into the oven dish. Poke the artichoke storks in between the stuffed heads in the oven dish. Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the dish full of stuffed artichokes, cover with a tight fitting lid and bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes. If you want, you can remove the lid for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time.
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