Not Stuffed Artichokes

For the Petitti family

Whenever I tell my mother I’m cooking artichokes her standard response is: “Oh, stuffed?” My response to that is always “no,” because I always prepare them in this way.
Artichokes are one of my top 10 favorite foods. I have been known to be less than generous when they are on the menu.

3 medium-sized globe artichokes
7 or 8 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Small handful of capers, roughly chopped
¼ lemon
A few shakes of hot pepper flakes
½-inch squeeze anchovy paste
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Water

To trim the artichokes:

Wash the artichokes by letting them sit submerged in a bowl of cold, slightly salted water for several minutes, then rinse. Cut the stem off of the vegetable at the bottom where it meets the base (or heart). Peel the stem and cut into ½- to ¼- inch slices. Be sure you have cut the bottom so that the artichoke can stand up on its base in the pot, but avoid cutting too much off the heart. It is the most bestest part. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut off the top of the vegetable from where it starts to come to a point. Now, the vegetable should be pretty much flat on the top and bottom. With scissors, snip off the pointy tips of the remaining leaves. Next, use your fingers to open the artichoke up a bit and loosen the leaves so that when you put the seasonings in the pot, some will land between the leaves.

Preparation:

Arrange the artichokes so they are standing upright in a pot and won’t fall over. Add the peeled slices of stem. If the stems become tender within the cooking time of the artichokes, you will be able to eat them. However, this may not happen. You won’t know this until the end of the cooking process. Add them anyway. At the very least, they’ll flavor the cooking liquid. You paid for them; why throw them away?

Toss the pieces of garlic in to the pot and “accidentally” get some between the artichoke leaves. If you are using salt-packed capers, rinse the salt off of them several times, and add them, roughly chopped to the pot too. You’ll probably want to rinse the vinegar-packed capers as well, if you’re using them. Squeeze the juice from the lemon piece, and then cut it up into smaller pieces. Add them to the pot. Shake on some black pepper, red pepper flake, and a few generous shakes of salt. Drizzle on a good amount of olive oil.

If you happen to know someone who loves spicy food, particularly peperoncini, you may want to slice one up and add it and some of its brine to the cooking liquid in lieu of the hot pepper flakes. I sometimes slice up half a jalapeño to use instead of the flakes.

Add enough water to the pot to just cover the hearts of the vegetables. This will essentially steam the artichokes. Add a squirt of anchovy paste.

Simmer covered over medium heat until the leaves pull easily away from the base. This could take up to 60 or 75 minutes, possibly more. Check periodically to make sure there is enough water in the bottom of the pan. Taste every so often for seasoning.

Serve the artichoke with the cooking liquid and dip the leaves in it before eating. When you get to the scrumptious heart, dip that in, too. Heaven…

- Elena

Artichoke image by Basilius Besler