Artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs and grated cheese make a fun holiday side dish or enjoy these for lunch. Digging into the leaves and scooping out the fleshy part of the leaf is fun.
These require a little bit of prep work but if you’re an artichoke lover, it’s worth it. Expect to get messy when eating these because you’ll be eating them with your hands and you might want to set extra plates to put the discarded leaves. If you’ve never eaten a stuffed artichoke before, what you have to do is pull off a leaf and scrape the fleshy part at the leaf’s bottom between your teeth, and discard the rest of the leaf. Once all the leaves are gone, you’ll be left with the artichoke heart in the center which is probably the best part and worth working towards. These are filling! You may want to share one or you can eat a whole one as a meal. Enjoy!!
Italian Stuffed Artichokes
Ingredients
- 2 medium artichokes
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup grated pecorino romano or a good parmesan cheese
- 1 egg white, whisked
- 1 cup chicken broth, vegetable broth can be used instead
- 2 oz white wine
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Cut the stems and the tops off the artichokes.
- Using a scissor cut off the tips of the leaves and squeeze lemon all over to prevent browning.
- Fill a large pot with 4 cups water and place artichokes cut side down in the pot.
- Boil 12-14 minutes, until the meaty parts of the artichoke become tender.
- Remove from water and set aside to cool.
- When artichokes have cooled, remove the center leaves and scoop out the choke with a teaspoon and discard. Remove from heat.
- Add breadcrumbs, grated cheese, olive oil, garlic and egg white and mix well.
- Place artichokes in a baking dish and stuff the centers and leaves all around with the stuffing. Spray lightly with olive oil.
- Fill the bottom of the baking dish with broth and wine and cover tight with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 350F removing the foil the last 10 minutes of baking until the crumbs become golden. Serve in two bowls with the broth in the bottom and garnish with parsley and optional, more Parmesan cheese.