Cooking with artichoke hearts raises the question of whether to pare fresh artichokes (and feel the thorns) or leave that labor to somebody else and work with frozen or canned/jarred artichoke hearts. For these recipes, you can certainly substitute ready-to-eat hearts for fresh. The tradeoff for the convenience factor is that you lose some flavor and texture.
Genevieve Ko’s spinach artichoke dip is a lighter, vegan and dairy-free version of the rich, cheesy classic. The famous Italian dish carciofi alla Romana (artichokes with garlic and mint) is a straightforward braise of artichoke hearts flavored with lemon, white wine and fresh herbs. In a slightly more complex dish, Bavel chef Ori Menashe makes confit of artichoke hearts in olive oil that is steeped with flavors of the Near and Middle East — cumin, turmeric, ginger, fresh mint and parsley — and garnished with marash pepper and more fresh herbs. Aginares avgolemono (artichoke bottoms in avgolemono), a recipe from chef Cosmas Kapantzos, features artichoke bottoms (the meat of the heart) bathed in a thicker version of the classic Greek avgolemono soup as a sauce. If you are all about intense artichoke flavor, Russ Parsons’ cream of artichoke soup is a velvety artichoke-umami bomb.
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
Carciofi alla romana (artichokes with garlic and mint)
Bavel’s Herbed Confit Baby Artichokes
Aginares Avgolemono (Artichokes in Greek Lemon Sauce)
