Marinated Sicilian Artichokes Recipe

Today I was able to sort out the Marinated Artichoke recipe.

What you’ll need:

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  • 5  Artichokes
  • ½  Cup extra virgin Olive Oil
  • 1  Lemon
  • 2 cloves of garlic unpeeled
  • 3-4  oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and julienned
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • big pinch of salt
  • smaller pinch of pepper
  • ½ cup water  + a bowl of cold water

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To keep the artichokes from discoloration I make a bowl of cold water and squeeze the lemon juice in.  set aside.

Snap off tough 3 or 4 layers of outer leaves from artichokes until pale yellow tender leaves are reached. Dip in the lemon water.

Trim away dark green areas along base. Trim off end of stem. Cut artichokes lengthwise in half. Using edge of small spoon, scoop out fuzzy choke.   Its weird that this little section is called the choke, but being the nerd that I am I found a picture showing the anatomy of an artichoke (below). 🙂 Artichokes are a very odd vegetable… and its sad how little of the artichoke is actually edible.  Add trimmed artichokes to bowl of lemon water.

In large skillet combine oil, garlic, tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and ½ cup water. Drain artichokes and add to pan; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Uncover and cook until tender when pierced with tip of a knife.  Your kitchen will smell great at this point.

Put the artichokes into a bowl or dish and then put the oil mixture right over top.  Let cool and pull the rosemary sprig, bay leaf, and garlic if you want.  Usually I can’t wait for them to cool…. believe me they are good warm too.

Below are some glamor shots along the way and the anatomy of the artichoke that I promised.   Buon Appetito!

artichokes_anatomy_product

sicilian artichoke 1

sicilian artichokes

sicilian artichokes 3

This is a shot of the pan before the cooking process.
This is a shot of the pan before the cooking process.
Finished Product!  Molto Buono!
Finished Product! Molto Buono!

2 Replies to “Marinated Sicilian Artichokes Recipe”

  1. Man do those look good! Fancy and I are on the next plane over, so stock up on Artie’s. Do you eat that variety as prepared entirely?

    1. Should be able to cover you guys with all the artichokes at the vegetable stands these days! Not sure what you mean with your question.. we definitely do eat them!

      As an eery side note to this post I turned on the tv yesterday to Andrew Zimmerman (Bizarre Foods) in Sicily… Not only that he was eating at an artichoke festival and commenting on how tasty they are here because of the freshness. Granted this is the guy who enjoys eating cockroaches regularly on his show…so take it with a grain of salt…. but I think he was on track with the artichokes here 🙂

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