Italian Artichoke Appetizer

[pedie]

The other day I purchased some baby spring artichokes. I was having my children over for dinner. They love Italian Stuffed Artichokes that "nonna" used to make. I wanted to use the baby artichokes as appetizers that would be easy to eat while standing and visiting before dinner, but would convey the same flavor as the "family favorite." I ended up fixing the baby artichokes as artichoke hearts with the stuffing dropped like a little pillow in the heart. I prepared the hearts by par boiling in chicken stock after cutting and cleaning them. Then I created the stuffing using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, minced garlic, salt, pepper, chopped fresh parsley all binded with egg white. I placed the stuffing on the heart, drizzled with EVOO and placed in the oven for about 15 minutes. They were a hit!

Preparing:

The final product!

Since we are entering the artichoke season, does anyone have any other interesting ways to serve them?

[Jake]

Wow! I picked some baby artichokes up at the weekend. I now know what I'll do with them for dinner tonight -- many thanks.

[patticky]

I did a triple tour of the produce section and there wasn't an artichoke to be had. I wanted to celebrate the start of the season. I love your idea for the baby artichokes. I wonder if the egg white is absolutely needed -- it's a binder, right?

[hathor]

Beautiful dish! I love the way you 'riffed on a traditional family recipe. Now...if only those artichokes were available here in NY, life would be grand!

[pedie]

I wonder if the egg white is absolutely needed -- it's a binder, right?

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You could probably get away without the egg white. Yes, it is the binding to hold the stuffing together nicely. The "family" recipe uses a whole egg. I used egg white because I had two whites refrigerated, left over from a recipe that only wanted two yolks!

[pedie]

Now...if only those artichokes were available here in NY, life would be grand!

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I purchased mine at my local Trader Joe's...but then we are in California, just south of Central California...artichoke heaven!

[Goatjunky]

I picked up a box at Trader Joes specifically to try this out, and was definately not disappointed. Big hit with me and the hubby.

When I was growing up my best friends were greek, and they introduced me to artichokes. One of my favorite ways they made them was to quarter cleaned baby artichokes and then simmer in tomato sauce with lamb shanks and lemon juice. I dont have an exact recipe for this, and would have to just wing it now. But now that the babies are available at TJ's I think that will be next.

[weinoo]

Last Friday I was at Agata & Valentina and saw that they had "baby artichokes" at $1.98 a pound - a great price for NYC...I picked up 2 pounds, and though they were more mid-small size than baby (and had a bit of a choke, too), I pared them down (worst job in the kitchen, imo), braised them ala Romana and enjoyed them with some bread and olives. Fresh ones are a great treat!

[hathor]

Last Friday I was at Agata & Valentina and saw that they had "baby artichokes" at $1.98 a pound - a great price for NYC...I picked up 2 pounds, and though they were more mid-small size than baby (and had a bit of a choke, too), I pared them down (worst job in the kitchen, imo), braised them ala Romana and enjoyed them with some bread and olives.  Fresh ones are a great treat!

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Mitch, you are the man! You have an amazing ability to track down the good stuff!! Where is Agata & Valentina??

[Raoul Duke]

I assume that you are cutting off the tips of the 'chokes before prep. Can you eat the entire leave from the baby 'chokes?

[divina]

here is a little artichoke workshop with foto's on my site.

My now retired artichoke vendor Leo and his recipes

[weinoo]

Mitch, you are the man! You have an amazing ability to track down the good stuff!! Where is Agata & Valentina?? 

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Hey Judith - 79th and 1st...they usually have some very nice "Italian" vegetables!

And I always cut the tips off, babies or not...the babies are totally edible once you get down to the pale green leaves...they don't have a developed choke yet, but the small ones usually do.

[hathor]

79th and 1st?? I don't have a visa to go that far uptown!

[pedie]

I assume that you are cutting off the tips of the 'chokes before prep.  Can you eat the entire leave from the baby 'chokes?

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Here is a simple tutorial I stumbled upon for preparing the artichokes:

Hope the link works.Sunset Magazine - artichokes

[divina]

oops.. Here is the link to leo's artichoke's from my site..

there is a foto guide on the sidebar for cleaning them, and the recipe for fried on the side bar.. and then his recipe for "pickled" under the main text!