The light baked artichokes are an easy, light, yet very tasty recipe. A golden and tender side dish inside, will win you over.
Baked artichokes are also good on pizza or in a sandwich.
A vegan recipe without eggs and dairy.
SEASONALITY of #artichoke: from October to May depending on the variety.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Baked Artichokes
- 5 Artichokes (Mola, moretti, violetti, spinosi…)
- as needed Lemon juice (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Breadcrumbs (about 15 g)
- as needed Spices (basil, marjoram, mint, calamint, oregano, savory, thyme…)
- Half clove Garlic (or garlic powder)
- as needed Salt
- as needed Extra virgin olive oil
- as needed Parsley (or fresh mint)
Tools
- Cutting board
- Knife with a smooth, sharp blade
- Pressure cooker or regular pan
- Baking dish low for oven
Baked Artichokes
Cleaning artichokes is long and laborious. If you don’t have time, you can find them prepped at the greengrocer or market, or you can use frozen artichoke hearts in wedges.
How to clean artichokes?
To start, I recommend covering your hands with latex gloves to avoid staining your fingers dark green.
Remove the stem (it can be used for other preparations, or shorten, peel from the more fibrous part and cut into pieces to add it to the artichoke hearts in the baking dish).
Remove the tough and outer leaves until reaching the lighter and tender ones (the so-called heart). Cut the end of the flowers to remove the spine.
Cut the individual artichokes in half and then into wedges, removing any internal fuzz (called choke).
As they are ready, immerse them in acidulated water to prevent them from turning black. Often I place them in plain water without lemon juice because cooking them shortly after makes their coloration irrelevant.
Precooking
Steam the artichoke wedges (I use a pressure cooker for 3 minutes) or in a pan with boiling water for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the static oven to 356°F.
Prepare the breading
In a cup, place a generous tablespoon of breadcrumbs, a few crumbled dried herbs, chopped garlic, and salt. Mix everything.
Oven cooking
Place the artichoke quarters in a single layer in an appropriately sized baking dish (ceramic, metal, Pyrex…).
Sprinkle the prepared breadcrumbs on top and drizzle with a little oil.
Bake in the preheated static oven, on a middle rack, at 356°F for about 20 minutes. After this time, raise the temperature to 392°F and move the baking dish to a higher rack for a surface gratin of the artichokes.
Serve the oven-gratinated artichokes with a sprinkle of chopped fresh mint and/or parsley and a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil.
ALTERNATIVES
To choose the dried aromatic herbs, I recommend adding many types in very small quantities to flavor the light breading and limit the amount of salt.
The breading can be omitted; just season the artichokes with a little salt and brush with good oil before baking.
For celiacs: use instant polenta cornmeal or gluten-free breadcrumbs.
For a softer result, flavor with a little tomato sauce before baking.
VEGETARIAN VARIANTS
The breading can be made with grated cheese (grana, parmesan, pecorino…) mixed with breadcrumbs or pure.
In the last minutes of cooking, you can add pieces of cheese (without animal rennet) such as caciotta, mozzarella, scamorza… remove from the oven as soon as it melts.
STORAGE
Consume the gratin artichokes within 3 days and store them in the refrigerator.
