Roasted Artichokes With Lemon Herb Aioli

Artichokes have always been up there as one of my favorite foods. Every birthday while I was growing up, I would ask for steamed artichokes and  crab burgers for my birthday dinner. Kind of a funny combo when I think about it, but they are both so good.

Nowadays, I usually enjoy them for a special occasion or a date night in, but lately, I have been indulging a little more often. I can’t help it! Artichokes are so tasty and can be paired with delicious dipping sauces.

There are several different ways to cook artichokes. Steamed is the most popular and easiest, but recently I have been playing around with roasting artichokes. I came across an amazing recipe for roasted artichokes from 

Gimme Some Oven; have you checked out her blog yet? It’s full of amazing recipes.

Her recipe calls for garlic and herbs filling the cavity of the artichoke. My first reaction…Uhyum! I loved this idea and the next thing I knew I was in the kitchen creating my own roasted artichoke recipe.

Artichokes can seem a little intimidating but they really are not hard to cook. It’s the preparation that takes a little time, so they are just a little high maintenance, but it is so worth it! Once you learn how to prepare an artichoke, every artichoke after that will be a breeze to make.

HOW TO PREPARE ARTICHOKES

1. Start by cutting the stem off up to the bottom of the artichoke.

2. Pull off and discard the lowest leaves at the bottom of the artichoke. These leaves will not cook well and will most likely need to discarded anyways.

3. Cut the top 1-inch of the artichoke where the leaves come together.

4. Using kitchen scissors, cut off the pointy tips of each artichoke. 

5. Cut the artichoke in half vertically by piercing the stem side first and cutting down the leaves.

6. Use a spoon to scoop out the choke – the fuzzy hairs in the middle of the artichoke.

7. Remove some of the small pink/purple leaves to make the cavity bigger.

8. Rub the entire surface of the artichoke (leaves and cut surface) with a lemon half to prevent browning. 

Once the artichoke is prepared, the roasting process is quite easy. Stuff that beautiful artichoke with all the ingredients and pop it in the oven. Yea, that’s pretty much it!

The stuffed cavity creates so much flavor and can be fun to mix up the ingredients. Shallots, garlic, lemon wedge, and herbs blend together and add a slightly sweet and slightly tart flavor to the already woodsy flavored artichoke.

QUICK TIPS

• Pick artichokes that have bright green leaves that are tightly closed. If the artichoke feels light in your hand, it may be dried out.
• When roasting artichokes, brush with lemon to prevent browning. You can also combine water and lemon juice in a bowl and dunk the artichokes in the water.
• Trimming off the tips of the leaves is optional, but I highly recommend it. It creates a nicer presentation and those points can poke you!
• Use a serrated knife when cutting off the stem and top of the artichoke. When cutting in half vertically, start at the stem side.
• You can leave 1/2 inch or so of the stem, some people enjoy a little stem with their artichoke heart, but I prefer to cut the stem completely off. The stem can sometimes be stringy and hard to eat.
• The total cooking time depends on the size of the artichokes. Check the artichoke after 30 minutes and adjust the total time as needed.
• The most effective way I have found to test doneness is to pierce the very bottom of the artichoke where the stem would be. If it easily pierces it, it’s done.
• Play around with flavors and add different ingredients to stuff in the cavity; try some different herbs like fresh sage or oregano.

Some extra flavor comes from the dipping sauce. The big question…are you a garlic butter person or an aioli person? My whole life I dipped my artichokes in garlic butter. It was only when I met my husband that I was introduced to dipping in a mayo-based sauce.

As a matter of fact, I had never even heard of dipping artichokes in mayonnaise before him! Pretty much why I married him. Joking! There are some other reasons too.

This lemon herb aioli is made from the ingredients that were stuffed in the artichoke cavity. During the roasting, the garlic and shallots become so full of flavor. Blended with lemon juice and mayonnaise it creates a dipping sauce that has a roasted, woodsy flavor.

Perfect for dipping those leaves in. If you are more of a butter person, stir it into your melted butter.

Never eaten an artichoke before? No problem! Once the artichoke is cooked, pull off each leaf and dip it in the lemon-herb aioli or melted butter with garlic. Scrap the soft pulp from the underside of the leaf with your teeth.

The leaves will start to get lighter and softer and you will be able to pull several off at a time, eat the light-colored parts of these leaves. Once the leaves are gone, you’ve made it to the best part. The heart! Cut it up into pieces, dip it in the sauce and enjoy!