Marinated Artichokes

I absolutely love marinated artichokes. Not the sloppy bland kind that come in a tin, but proper Italian ones marinated in olive oil, which invariably cost an arm and a leg. I don’t often buy them, but sometimes I indulge in a special treat and serve them up with a platter of antipasto or in a salad. I have a distinct memory from my childhood of a long afternoon in the kitchen with my mother making our own marinated artichokes. It must have been the end of season because she had bought a whole box of small ones for a steal and I helped her go through the laborious process of peeling the hard outer leaves off each one to reveal the sweat and tender heart. I will never forget the pleasure of dipping into our jar of homemade deliciousness and the disappointment when they were finished!

Needless to say, one of the first things I did in the Vastrap veggie garden was to plant globe artichokes. I bought three established plants and started a few from seed. Having heard that they take quite a long time to produce anything, I didn’t expect much. We harvested a few last year, but only enough to eat there and then. This year it’s a completely different story! I have about seven plants and all of them are producing, including the ones I grew from seed last year. In a quick round of the garden last night I picked about eight beautiful artichokes, which was far too much for the two of us to eat so there was nothing to do but marinade them. It’s the first time I’ve done this since that day in the kitchen with my mom, but it’s really not rocket science. The recipe can easily be tweaked to suit individual taste. Unfortunately the preparation is a bit time consuming, but it’s definitely worth the effort and can be done in stages if you don’t have enough time all at once.

Ingredients:

6-8 globe artichokes

3-4 lemons

3-4 cloves of garlic

Dried chilli flakes

Dried origanum and thyme

Salt & pepper

Good quality extra virgin olive oil (about 500ml)

Method: 

Wash the artichokes thoroughly to remove any bugs that have settled between the leaves (save the ladybugs if you can!) Cut each artichoke in half from top to bottom. I like to keep the stems quite long. Scoop out the hairy choke with a spoon or pairing knife. Squeeze some lemon juice over each one to prevent the flesh going brown. Place in a pot and cover with salted water. Boil for about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the hearts. Check the centre of the heart to see if a knife goes through easily – there should still be some resistance, but it must be cooked through.

Once cooked drain off the water in a colander. I like to chargrill them a bit on a griddle pan, but it’s not strictly necessary. You can do this while they are still hot or even the next day when you have more time. Place each artichoke heart-side down on a hot grill pan until there are some nice brown stripes. At this point  you can set some of the artichokes aside to eat in the traditional way with olive oil, butter or mayonnaise. Otherwise start with the next process of removing all the hard outer leaves and cutting off the prickly tops. Some people do this before the artichoke is cooked, but I think that’s too difficult. My knives are not nearly sharp enough!

You should be left with a pot full of artichoke hearts and the tender inner leaves. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, herbs, salt and pepper and olive oil. Bring to the boil for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse. Add the juice of one lemon. Place the artichoke hearts in a glass bottle or container and cover with the oil, herb and lemon juice mixture. Store in the fridge and top up with new ones as you go along.