These lovely little “jewels” of artichokes and spicy/sweet meat make an unusual dish at a cocktail party or for afternoon mezes. You can also make a larger version of them as a main dish for dinner. If you make them as a main dish, use large, fresh artichokes – if they are to be used on a buffet or meze table, go ahead and use the small tinned or bottled ones, so long as they are packed in water and not pickled!
Armenian Stuffed Artichokes Recipe:
Ingredients:
Artichokes – fresh or tinned, packed in water.
(Enough fresh artichokes so that each person might have two (for a dinner preparation) or enough tinned/bottled artichokes for a buffet table – there are generally around six to a can).
Filling:
(For 8 large or 16 – 20 small)
- 1 Pound of Ground Lamb or Beef
- 3 Onions, minced
- 4 Teaspoons of Raisins or Currants
- 2 Teaspoons of Pine Nuts – may be omitted or substituted with finely ground Walnuts or Hazelnuts.
- 2 Tablespoons finely minced Parsley
- ½ teaspoon of Allspice
- ¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Method:
To Prepare Fresh Artichokes:
- Cut the stems off at the base
- Using a Sharp Knife or (preferably) some scissors, trim the leaves all the way around, leaving just enough at the base to form a pocket for stuffing.
- Cook the artichokes in a large pot of water, with some lemon squeezed into it to season and to keep the artichokes bright.
- Keep at a slow boil until the artichokes are quite tender – and a leaf can easily be pulled away from the base.
- Remove, drain and dump into cold water to cool.
- Once the artichokes are cool enough to handle, with a small sharp paring knife, gently remove the fibrous “choke” from the middle of the vegetable, taking care to cleanly scrape it all out – along with the prickly center leaves. This leaves the tender “heart” at the bottom, surrounded by “walls” of trimmed leaves to form a nice pocket for stuffing.
- Reserve in lemoned water, until ready to stuff and bake.
(If you use tinned artichokes, simply wash well in cold water and make sure that each is cleaned out enough to form a small pocket for stuffing).
To Prepare the Filling:
- Sauté the meat (you can add a little butter or olive oil, if it is especially lean and sticks to the frying pan).
- Add the onions and sauté.
- When the onions are clean and softened – but not yet browned – add the raisins or currants, the chopped nuts and the allspice, salt, pepper and cinnamon (all to taste).
- At the end of the process, add the minced parsley
Finishing the Dish:
- Carefully spoon enough of the meat into the pocket of each artichoke to fill. The artichoke should be well-filled – but not overflowing.
- Put each stuffed artichoke into a shallow pan – they should touch each other to help them keep their shape while in the oven.
- Pour a little water into the bottom of the pan (about ¼ inch) to keep the vegatbles from burning and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes to heat through and incorporate all the flavors.
- Before serving, squeeze some lemon juice over the warm artichokes and sprinkle with some freshly minced parsley.
Debbie Kwiatoski - I have been a working journalist and editor for nearly thirty years, with published pieces in many local and regional magazines and ...
