Sunday, May 18, 2014

#1,247: Oven Roasted Artichokes

Sorry no photo...I can't find it on my camera!

The only way I’ve ever eaten a fresh artichoke, if when my aunt stuffs it with breadcrumbs and bakes it.  It’s delicious, but I was always intimidated by this veggie and figured it wasn’t worth my time or effort to make.  Then I went grocery shopping this weekend and artichokes were 49 cents each!  How can you pass that up?!  Obviously I didn’t.  So I found this recipe which roasts it in the oven.  It was very, very easy to put together, but it takes over an hour to bake.  A little long in my opinion, but VERY worth the wait.  This was DELICIOUS.  I can’t wait to make it again.  I’ll probably make it several times this week.  I made the girls try it, and they ate it because I made them, but they didn’t really like it.  We’ll try it again though and see if I can convert them into artichoke fans. 

1 artichoke (or more if you want to make several at a time)
Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Lemon
Salt

Slice off the top third of the artichoke with a sharp knife.  Next, cut off the stem right at the base of the artichoke.  Next tear off a large square of heavy duty aluminum foil, drizzle it with a few drops of olive oil, and smear it around a bit.  Place one artichoke in the middle of the foil and open up the leaves a bit with your fingers.  Tuck a few peeled garlic cloves into the artichoke.  Sprinkle kosher salt all over it then squeeze lemon juice and drizzle olive oil over the top.  I used half a lemon per artichoke and probably drizzled a tablespoon or so of oil (maybe more).

Once you’ve seasoned it, wrap the foil up around the artichoke, sealing it well.  If you don’t have heavy duty aluminum foil, wrap it with an extra sheet of the regular kind.  Repeat with as many artichokes as you want.  Place wrapped artichokes in a pan and roast in a preheated 425 degree oven for one hour and 15 minutes.  If you are using small artichokes, one hour is good.  Jumbo artichokes might take an hour and a half.

After removing them from the oven, let artichokes sit until cool enough to handle, then unwrap.  The garlic will be soft and sweet and delicious – you’ll probably want to eat that first.

Next, start peeling off the leaves one by one, and enjoy the garlicky, lemony, salty olive oil as you scrape each one with your teeth. 


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