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Active Time
2 1/4 hr
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Total Time
3 1/2 hr
A bit of soppressata and cheese stuffed ingeniously between each leaf gives these artichokes a heartiness worthy of a special course. (Eat them as you normally would, scraping the leaf with your teeth—but in this case you'll get a mouthful of flavor-packed filling, too.) Using a pressure cooker speeds up cooking time and also results in incredibly tender artichokes.
Ingredients
Makes 8 (first course) servings
For stuffing:
For artichokes:
Make stuffing:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Step 2
Spread bread crumbs in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven, stirring once or twice, until pale golden, about 10 minutes. Cool completely, then toss with parmesan, garlic, parsley, soppressata, provolone, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Drizzle oil (1/4 cup) over crumbs and toss to coat.
Trim and stuff artichokes:
Step 3
Cut off artichoke stems and discard. Cut off top 1/2 inch of 1 artichoke with a serrated knife, then cut about inch off all remaining leaf tips with kitchen shears. Rub cut leaves with a lemon half.
Step 4
Separate leaves slightly with your thumbs, then pull out purple leaves from center and enough yellow ones to expose fuzzy choke. Scoop out choke with a melon-ball cutter or small spoon, then squeeze some juice from other lemon half into cavity. Repeat with remaining artichokes.
Step 5
Spoon about 2 tablespoons stuffing into cavity of each artichoke and, Starting with bottom leaves and spreading leaves open as much as possible without breaking, spoon a rounded teaspoon stuffing between each leaf.
Cook artichokes:
Step 6
Put 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup broth, 1/4 cup oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in pressure cooker (without insert) or pot and arrange 4 stuffed artichokes in liquid in 1 layer. Drizzle with 1/4 cup oil.
Step 7
If using pressure cooker, seal lid and cook at high pressure, according to manufacturer's instructions, 13 to 15 minutes. Put pressure cooker in sink (do not remove lid) and run cold water over lid until pressure goes down completely.
Step 8
If using a regular pot, simmer artichokes, covered, until leaves are tender, about 50 minutes. Transfer cooked artichokes, along with any liquid, to a shallow bowl and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.
Step 9
Repeat procedure to cook remaining stuffed artichokes. Transfer artichokes with tongs to 8 shallow soup bowls and spoon cooking liquid around them.
· Stuffing can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.
· Artichokes can be stuffed (but not cooked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
· Stuffed artichokes can be cooked 4 hours ahead and reheated in a microwave oven.
Leave a Review
Reviews (15)
Back to TopGreat recipe from Calabria, Italy. Have been eating it for over 70 years. Recipe came down from my great-grandmother to me, except it was/is without soppressata.
Anonymous
12/26/2014
I really wanted to like these. I thought they would be a great addition to our Christmas party menu, and had been wanting to cook artichokes for years. I almost didn't make them since they were $2/ea. at most grocery stores in the area, but then I found them at the Asian market for $1/bag of 4. I am sorry I did! It took forever to try to pry the chokes out - and I am no stranger to myriad kitchen tools. I wish I had a video of the fiasco - it was like a comedy show. I finally relented and cut them in half, but they they were not the Christmas-tree-shaped showpieces I had hoped to present at the table. I had to show my guests how to eat them (most are foodies, so was really surprised by this). Those who did liked them, but only well enough to eat a leaf or two. One (French) woman decried the pulling of the flesh off with your teeth and removing the rest of the leaf from your mouth a vile practice and was disgusted with the whole thing. At the end of the night, I had most of them left, which I forced myslf to take to lunch several days until I finally threw the rest out. Probably the worst recipe I have ever tried from this site. Never again
gypsylthr
Phoenix, AZ
6/20/2013
Delicious!!!!
Anonymous
Clinton, NJ
5/25/2012
我做了两次。与soprasetta第一。Second witout soprasetta. I increased the crumbs and cheese instead. Great for vegetarians. I simply love this recipe. Its amazing and filling. Leftovers work well too. Just steam it for about 10 - 15 mins and stuff your face with it! Yummy. I am waiting for the really good fresh artichokes to come to the stores/grocers and I will be making this to welcome spring.
nelumvila
Toronto, Canada
3/28/2010
Love artichokes - been eating them for 50 years & this is by far the worst preparation I've ever tasted. I should have been suspicious of any recipe that relies so heavily on oil for its flavor - 2000 calories of olive oil in this! And this doesn't add in the fat calories in the soppressata & the cheese. The recipe isn't porportioned right either. There are simply too many bread crumbs for the flavor points. Also, the lemons in the broth left a nasty bitter taste. Husband said at end of dinner, "I hope you didn't go to too much trouble on these because you wasted your time & two artichokes!" I agree. Not a keeper!
owlscdw
Portland Oregon
2/26/2010
This was my first attempt at making artichokes, and my first time eating more than just the hearts. Followed recipe pretty closely, except I used canned breadcrumbs and omitted the sopressata bcs I didn't want the dish to be too heavy. Both me and my guy agreed the sopressata would have tasted great in there though. Cooked in regular pot and they were fine; tender and flavorful. Couldn't figure out how to get all the fuzzies out. Maybe I wasn't being rough enough in scooping? I'm none to familiar with artichoke anatomy! I would still definitely try again.
anashenwrath
queens
2/16/2010
These Turned out to die for!!! I was just in the mood to try something new, and remember haveing them when i was little. If i were to do it over again i would use pre done bread crumbs...although the baguette that i used was delicious! I also used prosotto instead of the sausage on accident, but that was still really good! Everyone was asking what i was cooking, the aroma was sooo yummy!And there was not one complaint... even the pups that we have wouldn't leave us alone! :) i will def do this again!!
Anonymous
va
7/23/2009
I made this a few nights a go with some adjustments and OH MY, how yummy this was but definately time consuming so make sure you buy giant artichokes to make the scooping easier. I used some mild italian sausage instead of the soppressata and used Trader Joe's 4 cheese blend and didn't bother with the melting the provelone over the chokes. And the best part: I added white wine to the cooking liquid and used thick slices of onions to keep the 'chokes of the bottom of the pot and steamed for around 50-60 min (big chokes). While the chokes cooled, I reduced the simmering broth and then added it to some melted butter to make the MOST INCREDIBLE dipping sauce for the leaves. This is one of the most incredible meals I've ever made. I used really big chokes and stuffed them chock full, none of this two tablespoon stuff, there was nearly a cup in each one! My non-artichoke eating husband kept coming into the kitchen wanting to know what smelled so good and was thirlled with his dinner.
sbullard
Acton, MA
6/29/2009
This was my first go with whole artichokes.. and after trying this recipe.. I can't believe what I've been missing out on! My boyfriend and I tried this recipe for dinner last night and woke up this morning still talking about it. We cut the recipe down to make two artichokes and doubled the amount of soppressata and provolone to make a heartier stuffing (we were having these as a main course). We used a rosemary infused olive oil for the stuffing and broth, and threw the lemon halves in the pot as well. They were there to prop up the artichokes, but added a really nice flavor to the broth. Unlike other reviews, we didn't find this difficult or tedious at all, but that could be because we were trimming two artichokes rather than eight. Either way, this recipe is worth the effort.
krina03
Boston, MA
4/5/2009
This recipe is amazing! And SO much easier than it seems. I only did 2 artichokes and stuffed them and put them in a normal pot that you'd boil water in and put a little bit of water in the bottom and a lid on the top and steamed them for 50 min & they came out perfect! No need for a pressure cooker. I HIGHLY recommend it. This was my first time ever cooking artichokes and they came out amazing!
NataliaBrowne
San Diego, CA
1/27/2009
I love this recipe. It's really not that difficult to remove the choke, and it's worth the effort. Pull out some of the inside leaves with your fingers, and then use a melon baller to scrape out the choke. Here's the real secret. After your remove the choke, but before you stuff, throw the chokes in a large pot of boiling water for 8 - 10 minutes. The leaves pre-cook, and are so tender. Let them cool, then stuff. It also cuts down on your overall steaming time (about 40 minutes). I've made this recipe with and without the soppresata and provolone, and it's fantastic either way. You can also cheat and use dried breadcrumbs... Just drizzle some of the broth over the top of the artichokes while they are steaming. I made these for a dinner party, and they were a huge hit.
laney472
6/29/2008
Excellent! Worth the little bit of work it takes to prepare.
Anonymous
Santa Fe
2/4/2008
I must be crazy, but I honestly didn't this this was a lot of work at all! I used ready-made bread crumbs. Took me about 15 - 20 minutes to make the stuffing + stuff the artichokes (I only made two, but I did remove the chokes). Then I just watched tv for an hour while they cooked in a pot. My boyfriend and his friends love them! Really easy.
Anonymous
nyc
11/9/2007
Some people must have a lot more time than I have! To say that they are "a lot or work" as another reviewer has, is putting it mildly!
Anonymous
Cyprus
11/9/2007
These are to die for but I prefer to bake them. They are a lot of work so I don't remove the choke. I don't toast the bread crumbs either. I rinse them, make a moist mixture of crumbs and stuff them. I substitute anchovy for sausage and add chopped hard-boiled egg. I top it off with a bit of olive oil, wrap them tightly in foil and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. You can also throw them on the grill this way. Much easier.
themouse
Grand Rapids, MI
10/31/2007
