When I was a little girl my grandpa, Emmanuele, lived with us, he was truly my best friend, and I remember him through food. So when I cook food that he taught me how to cook, I am with him again. Grandpa Emmanuele’s artichokes are full of warm memories of him for me, that is part of why I love making them, the other part is that they are delicious.
Recipe featured on Rachael Ray in Tuscany.
Trim the stems of the artichokes so they have a flat base to rest on when sitting in the baking dish. Trim off dark leaves or tough ends of leaves as well.
Heat a pot of water with the juice of 1 lemon in it and put a steamer or colander over top. Steam artichokes for 30-40 minutes until leaves loosen. Cool upside down on kitchen towels.
Heat oven to 425 F (210 C).
While artichokes steam, heat 6 T EVOO and butter over medium heat and melt in anchovies and stir to melt and dissipate them. Then add breadcrumbs and toast a bit until light golden brown. Remove from heat.
Loosen artichoke leaves to expose the choke and scrape it out with a grapefruit spoon or teaspoon.
Combine breadcrumbs with cheese, parsley and grated garlic.
To a baking dish, add stock and arrange artichokes. Fill the artichoke from the inside or center of the artichoke out. Use a spoon to add all the breadcrumbs and cheese carefully and evenly. Drizzle with a bit more EVOO and roast for 15 minutes or so to heat up and set stuffing.
In a small saute pan, heat up the last 2 tablespoons of EVOO and brown the lemon cut side down. Squeeze juice from charred lemon on top of artichokes and serve.
