Cassandra’s mum’s braised artichokes actually, and they’ve converted me. Artichokes aren’t just party food!
Cassandra says it’s a recipe she’s loved since she was a child, so I had to try it. I only have a couple of artichoke plants and I picked a dozen chokes for last week’s birthday feast, but still there were another half a dozen ready to be cut. Just shows how prolific they are.
The Recipe:
Cut the top leaves and pointy bits off as many artichokes as people (a bit like sharpening a pencil) cut the stem off so it has a flat bottom. Keep the very top of the stem, about 2 inches. Stand the artichokes up in a fairly tight fitting pot and place the stems all around.
Fill the pot to just under the top of the chokes with water. Put a dollop of tomato paste on each choke, crush garlic (lots) over the lot, add a slug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Simmer gently for at least an hour, lid on. Let the sauce reduce.
You eat them a leaf at a time. The are wonderful, even cold.
Heaven, peasant style
Cassandra Schultz
They look fantastic. I love the taste of artichokes, but am a bit scared of cooking them. So you don’t take out the choke in this recipe? or do you do that too when triming the leaves?
Cassandra’s recipe said nothing about removing the choke, so I didn’t. These were young artichokes but mature, with the leaves starting to open out. We ate them holus bolus, choke and all, with only a few leaf tips left on our plates at the end.