Today we're taking on a pretty intimidating ingredient - the artichoke! Like so many other people, trimming and prepping artichokes used to put us off them - until we found this method!
Roasted Artichokes with Herb Garlic Butter is the BEST way to cook artichokes! Forget about boiling or steaming, roasting preserves their wonderful, delicate flavour! To make her artichoke “experience” as easy as possible, I made these beautifully trimmed and amazingly aromatic Roasted Artichokes with Garlic Butter that I roasted with lemon slices, garlic and herb sprigs. The other wonderful thing about preparing artichokes this way is that your guests don’t have to deal with the fuzzy choke either.
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
2 large globe artichokes
4 large lemons - 2 juiced, 1 sliced to yield 4 slices, 1 to slice into wedges and serve
Extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 whole garlic cloves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 stick salted butter very soft
How-To:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a bowl (large enough to hold the artichokes when halved with water). Add the lemon juice and lemon pieces.
2. Using a sharp knife and or kitchen sheers. Trim any dry stem end from the bottom of the artichoke. Remove tough outer leaves from the bottom of the artichoke. Trim approximately 1 inch from the top of each artichoke.Trim the tips of each leaf. (Be careful! They can have sharp barbs.)
3. Cut the artichoke in half from top to bottom. Scoop the fuzzy choke from the centre of each artichoke. Immerse trimmed halves in bowl with lemon water, let soak for 15 minutes.
4. Drizzle a large roasting pan with olive oil. Season artichokes with salt and pepper. Place 3 cloves of garlic in each artichoke, top each with a sprig of thyme, rosemary, and lemon. Carefully flip the artichoke half over so that the cut side is facing down - Making sure the garlic and herbs are securely inside. Drizzle tops with olive oil.
5. Cover with foil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes or until tender. (Test doneness by gently pulling on one of the leaves or test with a small, sharp knife.)
6. Place butter in a small saucepan. Remove the garlic cloves and herbs from the pan and add to the butter. Mash it into the butter, then gently melt the butter. Serve the artichokes with the butter and lemon wedges.
You'll definitely want to save this one down, you'll never cook artichokes the same way again!