There was a basket of cute purple and green baby artichokes in the produce section of the market. My intent was to buy the larger globe artichokes for my recipe but these charmed me. I figured that I would grill these up and serve them with a lemon-butter dipping sauce. Then I realized that was all wrong. They needed to be marinated, not dipped and scraped like their larger counterparts. So, I boiled them up and placed them in a big bell jar with a simple Italian style marinade.
I’ve been known to eat one of those squat little jars of store-bought marinated artichokes in less than a minute, so I came up with a system to make them last longer. I pull off the leaves and eat them one-by-one before swallowing the little nub of heart that’s left. I end up covered in oil, which probably reduces my overall calorie intake (it’s listed at about 400 per jar). I kind of enjoy the mess, but the calories I can do without, so I made my version with a bit less oil.
Ingredients
- 5-6 baby artichokes about 1 pound
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- Juice from 1 small lemon about 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 clove of garlic chopped fine
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Water
Instructions
- Wash the artichokes, pull off any dry outer leaves, and cut them in half along their symmetrical axis as shown in the photo above.
- Place them in a large pot, cover them with water and boil them until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. In a large size bowl, mix all of the other ingredients except for the water together.
- Place the artichokes in a quart size jar with a lid and pour in the marinade. Add water to fill the jar full. Screw on the lid and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. The artichokes will keep in the fridge for about a week.
A baby artichoke before it’s steamed.
The artichokes marinating.
Looking for more vegetable side dishes? Try my braised brussels sprouts.
