Stuffed Artichokes Bottoms Baked in the Oven

Stuffed Artichokes Harts ارض الشكوة على ادامه Stuffed with ground meat onions and spices. Stuffed artichokes casserole is one of the most common artichoke recipes in the middle east.

Artichokes are low in fat while rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Particularly high in folate and vitamins C and K, Artichokes also supply important minerals, such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and iron.

It’s early May and artichokes are in season. My landlord/neighbor have artichokes in their backyard. They suddenly exploded calling out to be picked. My landlord generously asked me if I’d like to pick some and do something with them. Artichokes freshly picked, organic, right from the garden, of course, I jumped all over the idea.

I have never really cooked artichokes before. However, my sister has been making them and she happily shared the recipe with me. I had an idea of how to use them but needed some confirmation on the exact recipe which I received from my sister.

In this recipe only the inside of the artichokes is used, meaning they need to be cleaned from the inside so they will look more like a small ball to be stuffed with meat. Yes, I know it can be a lot of work to clean all the leaves/edges, but trust me it’s all worth it in the end.

If you don’t have fresh artichokes or you don’t want to do all the extra work of cleaning them, you can find them frozen in some middle eastern grocery stores. Easy and ready, all you need to do is fry, stuff and bake them.

How to make artichokes in the oven:

You start by cleaning the edges of each artichoke, during this step it’s very important to keep them in water with lemon. This will keep the color of the artichoke bright and will not get dark. Once they’re cleaned, dry them with a paper towel then deep fry them. Fry until they turn brown and set aside.

In a pot, sauté onions in vegetable oil until soft. Next add ground beef or lamb, season with salt, allspice and a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon. Keep sautéing until the meat is fully cooked. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

After the artichokes are fried lay them in a Pyrex baking dish. With a spoon scoop some of the meat and stuff each artichoke, continue until they all are filled. Pour about a cup of broth, whatever you have, chicken/meat or vegetable over in the baking dish. Cover and place in a preheated oven set at 350 F degrees. Bake for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

Take the baking dish out the oven and pour in a mix of about 2 freshly squeeze lemon juice with a tablespoon of flour, pour the lemon mixture over the artichokes and place it back in the oven for another 5 minutes, this will give the dish an extra lemony flavor. Salt can be added with the lemon mix if the broth is unsalted. This dish is usually served with a side of rice. You can decorated with roasted pine nuts.

This recipe is enough for 3-4 people.

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