Have you ever tried making stuffed artichokes? It is pretty must the tastiest vegetable EVER to stuff in my books.
Can we all agree there is something SO much fun about a stuffed veggie – stuffed mushrooms, squash, zucchini…. and now simple and flavorful Stuffed Artichokes! These Stuffed Artichokes make a fun and easy to whip up appetizer or side and they are perfect for people who love artichokes (or who hate mushrooms, lol). Can I just say, I will never really get mushroom haters (my family is divided between mushroom lovers and haters – I’m definitively on the FIRST side if you haven’t noticed). I mean, what’s to hate?! BUT enough about Mushrooms this recipe is all about the ARTICHOKES.
I can’t take FULL credit for this recipe. Since I’ve moved home to Toronto I’ve been SO incredibly lucky to live with my family – my stepmom particularly loves to cook and is vegetarian. We are constantly bouncing recipes ideas off each other, testing out new ideas and learning from one another in the kitchen. We whipped these Stuffed Artichokes up together this past weekend and they were completely devoured by the evening.
These Stuffed Artichoke Hearts are a traditionally Turkish recipe – Zeytinyağlı Enginar in Turkish (thank you very much Google Tranlate, ha!). AND they are made with ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS! Who woulda thunk an artichoke would be SO much fun to stuff?!? I’ve always been in LOVE with artichoke hearts (remember this protein-packed salad I made with them in the Summer?!) but would have never thought about using the bottoms to stuff into such a simple, tasty and less than 25 minute to make recipe! Guys, if you DO whip these Stuffed Artichoke up in your home, leave your feedback below, on my Facebook page or snap a photo and tag me #CearasKitchen on Instagram!
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 cups frozen or fresh peas
- 2 small carrots, peeled and finely chopped in rounds
- 9 cooked artichoke bottoms (found in a jar in most Middle Eastern, Turkish or health food stores)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- pinch pepper
- 2 tsp fresh dill
- 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
- ¼ - ½ cup water
- drizzle olive oil (optional)
- Saute onion over medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil or water (for oil-free method) in a large and deep pan until translucent.
- Add peas and chopped carrots to the pan and saute for another couple minutes until the carrots begin to soften and the peas are just cooked. Add sea salt and pinch of black pepper.
- Add the artichoke bottoms to the pan with the round side to the pan. Scoop the pea and carrot mixture into the artichokes (see photo for reference). Sprinkle with fresh dill, sugar (optional), and ¼ - ½ cup water (the water should come halfway up the artichokes in the pan).
- Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 17 - 20 minutes until the artichoke bottoms are soft (almost like a semi-soft potato texture).
- When the artichokes are ready, carefully scoop them out of the pan onto a plate. Drizzle with olive oil (optional). Serve as an appetizer or side!
3 comments
This is actually just the tradtional Turkish recipe, you only need to actually braise these beauties in the olive oil as that is what “zeytinyağlı” stands for! 😉
Stuffed veggies are the best, but i have never seen artichokes before what a great idea!! Clearly I’m not very familiar with artichoke anatomy, because I didn’t know they had bottoms, but I absolutely want to try this! And I love the peas, what a great veggie-stuffing ingredient. It’s really neat that you and your step mom can come up with recipes in the kitchen together! Cooking is always better with more people 🙂
My mom would go crazy for these! She loves when I make my stuffed mushrooms, but she also loves artichokes, this would be a double whammy 😉