Roman Style Artichokes

Growing up my parents had these family friends who were Italian. They would always create all these amazing dishes in their kitchen that were off limits to us since they were not kosher. I would just look at their food and drool. One day I said I was going to create these dishes in my house and make sure I could eat them. One dish that was always on their menu was artichokes Roman style that were fried in this amazing garlic and lemon sauce. Yes, you heard me fried, with amazing olive oil, tons of fresh garlic and finished with fresh squeezed lemon, salt, and you cannot forget the fresh pepper straight from the grinder. These can be done with both frozen artichoke hearts and fresh artichokes. My kids like scraping the “meat” of the artichoke with their teeth so I tend to make this with fresh ones, and they also look so pretty. It’s a little more effort but once you get the hang of it it’s super easy. With the artichoke you want to trim them first so you need a good knife and a kitchen scissor. Cut the top off the artichoke to make the head flat and cut a little of the stem off. With your kitchen scissors cut the pointy part from each leaf so that nothing can prick your finger and nothing is pointy. You are now ready to cook them. If you use frozen artichokes just go straight to frying them with the garlic. These are perfect for Chanukah because they use tons of oil and would be delish at any meal. Enjoy

Ingredients

  • 4 artichokes cleaned and trimmed (I explained how to do it above) (or a bag of artichoke hearts)
  • 15 cloves garlic sliced
  • Salt
  • Juice from a fresh lemon
  • 1 lemon sliced
  • Fresh pepper from a grinder
  • Extra virgin olive oil (the stronger the flavor the better)

Directions

  • Fill a large stock pot with water and allow to come to a boil.
  • Add the sliced lemons to the water and the cleaned trimmed artichokes.
  • Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes or until one of the leaves of the artichoke can pull off easily. 
  • When done drain and allow them to cool.
  • Cut each artichoke in half and using a spoon scrape out the inner pointy leaves and the hair leaving the meat of the artichoke and outer leaves intact.
  • (Start here if using frozen artichokes they might need to cook a little more to get crispy).
  • In a cast iron skillet pour a layer of olive oil (don’t be stingy) and turn heat on high.
  • When oil is hot and glistening put in the artichoke seam side down.
  • Fry them for about 3-4 minutes until they get crispy then flip them over.
  • Once flipped squeeze the fresh lemon and add a sprinkle of salt.
  • Remove from pan and finish with a dusting of freshly grinded black pepper.

Enjoy!

Pots Fall Sale

  • >