Anthony's Runway 84 stuffed artichokes

By grammadot

Anthony Bruno prefers to use Californian artichokes.

Ingredients

• 4 medium firm artichokes, about 10 ounces each
• Lemon juice, as needed
• 12 small whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups chicken broth, or enough to come 1/3 of the way up the artichokes
• Italian stuffing (See recipe)

Preparation

Step 1

1. Using a chef’s knife, trim about 1 ¼-inches from the tops of the artichokes. Cut off the stems flush with the bottom; reserve the stems. Break off all the small leaves at the base of the artichoke. Using scissors, trim the thorny top third of the remaining leaves. Rub artichokes with lemon juice to prevent the cut surfaces from browning.

2. Press 3 garlic cloves in each artichoke between some of the larger leaves. Drizzle each artichoke with 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Using a large nonreactive saucepan, stand artichokes upright. Trim off about ¼-inch from both ends of the stems and place in the saucepan with the artichokes. Add chicken broth until it comes 1/3 of the way up the artichokes. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 20 to 25 minutes, or until you can insert a fork easily into the bottom of the artichokes. Remove the artichokes and stems from the cooking liquid and drain upside down in a colander. Reserve the liquid. Reserve the stems for the stuffing.

4. Preheat broiler. Stand the artichokes upright on a broiler pan. Pull open each artichoke and remove the thin center leaves until you come to the choke (the purple hairy center). The restaurant leaves the choke intact to be removed by the diner when eating. If you wish, you can scrape out and discard the choke before cooking. Fill each cavity with stuffing and use any remaining stuffing to stuff between the leaves. Drizzle the tops with about 1 tablespoon reserved cooking liquid and remaining 2 teaspoons oil.

5. Broil the artichokes about 3 inches from the heat source until the tops are nicely browned, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.
Italian artichoke stuffing

1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 1/2 tablespoons for drizzling 1 large onion, finely chopped 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 cooked artichoke stems, reserved from artichokes and diced 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives 4 anchovies, minced 11/2 cups Italian bread crumbs 1/3 cup freshly grated Romano cheese 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Using a large saute pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute onions and garlic until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the artichoke stems, olives and anchovies and cook, stirring, 1 minute to heat through. Add bread crumbs, cheese and parsley, stirring well to combine. Remove from the heat. Makes about 3 cups.