I think it was my Sicilian grandmother who taught me to make artichokes this way, but with regular lemons. I found Meyer lemons in Trader Joe's and have been substituting them for regular lemons in many dishes and am particularly pleased with the results here. Please think of this as the easiest, most delicious, sauce-free artichoke recipe you'll probably find. My four-year-old calls artichokes his "best" vegetable because he loves them so much. The heart is his favorite, but he's willing to do the work to reach it. You can certainly steam artichokes and then dip them in a butter, olive oil, mayonnaise, or other sauce, but cooking them in the pot with the lemon and garlic gives them all the additional flavor they need, minus the calories from the sauce. Technically, this is pan-steaming.
Ingredients:
- 4 large artichokes or 8 baby artichokes
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed lightly and peeled
- 1 regular or Meyer lemon, sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- Get out your biggest chef knife and sharpen it well. Cut a slice from the end of a lemon and have it ready to rub on the cut edge of the artichoke to stop if from turning brown. Now wash the artichokes by filling their leaves with water and then inverting them to drain. Place on cutting board and cut off any stem so they can sit flat in a pot. Next, Cut about 1" off the top of each artichoke and immediately rub with lemon. Remove the tiny, hard leaves closest to the stem and any ripped or discolored leaves in the next layer. The artichokes are now ready to cook. If you want to get fussy you can take a pair of kitchen scissors and clip the sharp spines off the tops of the leaves. I find this overly fussy in most instances but it makes a nice presentation for a formal meal.
- Find a lidded pot wide enough to accommodate all 4 or 8 artichokes in one layer. Add water to a depth of 1", then add lemon, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle salt over artichokes.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook covered for 30-40 minutes or until cooked. Smaller artichokes and fresher artichokes will take less time, so start checking for doneness after 15 or 20 minutes. Make sure you have enough water in the pan to last through the cooking process, adding more if necessary. They are cooked when a leaf comes off easily (use tongs) and is tender inside.
- Remove the artichoke from the pan and invert to remove any water. Plate and serve. Remove each leaf and use lower front teeth to scrape the "meat" off the leaf. When you get near the heart, the leaves get very thin and fragile. I like to grab a bunch of them, ball them up and eat all that's tender. My little guy calls these artichoke burritos. Remove the choke from the heart before eating. Enjoy!
