Exotic artichoke recipes

The artichoke, the recipes for which we will describe today, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Aster family, genus Cynara. The main distribution area covers the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean (more than 10 plant species grow in this zone).

Selection and storage rules

Before you start cooking, you need to choose a product. These should be fresh fruits with tight-fitting leaves. Take the artichoke in your hands - when ripe, it should be quite heavy and firm when pressed, otherwise it is considered that the buds are not fresh and stale. Also pay attention to the color - it should be even and not contain brown spots. The question immediately arises as to what artichoke tastes like. It is somewhat reminiscent of a walnut, only with a certain piquant aftertaste.

The size of the selected fruits is not important, but remember that during preparation, their diameter is significantly reduced, therefore, to prepare the dish, you need to take the weight of the product twice as much as necessary.

Store artichokes for a week in a cool place, previously placed in a bag. Boiled fruits should either be eaten right away, or frozen, otherwise they will acquire a black tint and a bitter taste.

Culinary masterpieces

Of all the variety, only two species go for food: sowing (otherwise it is called the prickly Cynara scolumis), and also cardon (known as the Spanish artichoke Cynara cardunculus). For the first representative, only fleshy receptacles are suitable for eating, i.e. the bottom (base of the bud), the second has fleshy petioles of the basal leaves. According to recipes, a lot of delicious dishes are prepared from artichokes: salads, hot and cold, pizzas, pies, pastas and even baked goods.

Pickled artichoke

Pickled artichokes are not only healthy, but also delicious. True, the preparation of fruits requires preliminary preparation, otherwise it will be impossible to eat them.

To marinate four medium-sized fruits, you need 2 lemons, 3 liters of water, and spices. The latter are taken: 3 sprigs of fresh parsley, a couple of cloves of garlic, 0.3 liters of olive oil, salt and pepper according to preference and balsamic vinegar in the amount of 2 tbsp. l.

So let's take a look at how to marinate an artichoke:

1. To begin with, prepare lemon water by squeezing the juice of one citrus fruit into a deep container filled with 3 liters of water.
2. The next step is preparing the artichokes. Large and fleshy ones are used.
3. The fruits are thoroughly washed from dirt and grains of sand caught in the petals, dried on a paper towel. Next, using kitchen scissors, cut off the hard scales and peel off the hard upper skin from the stalk.
4. Also cut about 1 to 2 cm from the top of the bud. Next, you need to remove the hairy inedible part. It is most convenient to do this with a tablespoon, but so as not to damage the fleshy part of the fruit. As a result, you should get a soft bottom, which goes into cooking.
5. The peeled buds are cut into two halves and thoroughly washed again.
6. Since artichokes darken quickly, they are immediately placed in lemon water for 5-10 minutes. This will help preserve the color of the petals.
7. They start cooking. The contents of the container are poured into a saucepan, put on fire and brought to a boil, after which the heat is reduced to medium and the buds are boiled for 30-40 minutes. It all depends on their maturity and density.
8. Check the readiness of the artichokes with a fork - it should sink freely into the pulp. The cooked fruits are removed and allowed to cool.
9. In the meantime, a marinade is prepared from washed and chopped parsley, garlic, salt and pepper pressed through a press. Also pour in vinegar and oil to taste.
10. When the artichokes have cooled down, they are squeezed out of the water a little, cut into smaller pieces (not very finely), put in a pre-sterilized jar and poured with marinade. The jar is tightly closed with a lid and sent to the refrigerator for two hours.

Pickled artichokes can be used as a cold appetizer or in other dishes. For example, they make delicious salads with artichokes.

During cooking, you can take your own set of spices, for example, thyme, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, hot peppers, as well as any other vegetable oil.

Stuffed artichokes

Want to add some exoticism to your diet? Make a hearty, juicy and incredibly delicious artichoke dish - stuff them.

For cooking, take the ratio of 6 buds and minced beef 0.3 kg. Additionally, you will need one lemon, 6 potato tubers, 3 tbsp. l. lemon juice, the same amount of olive or any other vegetable oil, a bunch of fresh parsley, spices and salt according to your preferences:

1. First, prepare artichokes, as in the previous recipe, and soak in lemon water.
2. Fry minced meat with finely chopped onion in a hot skillet with oil. Spices and parsley are added there and stewed until tender.
3. Now the artichokes are stuffed, putting the minced meat in the middle and between the petals.
4. Potatoes peeled, cut into cubes, placed in a pressure cooker, poured with vegetable oil and stuffed buds are placed on top. Pour in a little water and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the dish is completely ready.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a thick-bottomed saucepan or deep skillet.

Video recipe for cooking artichokes in a pan

Pasta with artichokes, spinach and cheese

Due to the perfect combination of products, the dish turns out to be incredibly tasty and satisfying. Moreover, it is suitable not only for family dinners, but also for guests.

This artichoke recipe will require 2 cups of pasta, ½ cup canned and chopped artichokes. In the same amount of fresh chopped onions and spinach. You will also need 3 garlic cloves, 0.5 tsp. garlic salt, a glass of cream, 2 tbsp. l. cornstarch, salt and pepper to taste. Of the cheeses, grated Swiss cheese, parmesan and mozzarella are used in the amount of 1 tbsp: ¼ tbsp: 2 tbsp. respectively. Also, the dish uses 225 g of cream cheese.

Cooking process:

1. Boil pasta and put it in a colander. Work quickly to keep the pasta warm.
2. Chopped canned artichokes with spinach, onions, garlic passed through a press and grated cheese are mixed in a container until smooth.
3. Add hot pasta and mix thoroughly.
4. Pour in the cream, mix and put in a baking dish, having previously greased it with butter.
5. Distribute the mass equally in shape, sprinkle with a small amount of grated mozzarella.
6. They send it to the oven to cook at 200 C until the cheese melts and a delicious crust appears.

The finished dish is served hot, both whole and cut into portions.

Artichokes in Markigian - video

As you can see, the recipes for making artichokes are simple, you just need to properly prepare the fruits. With an effort, you will get a lot of delicious dishes that will always be present on your table.

How to properly clean and cook artichokes - video