Stuffed Artichoke is an olive oil Turkish cuisine meze that has protected its popularity since Ottoman Era. The artichoke plant is native to the Mediterranean region and if you want to make a Turkish-style Artichoke dish; the best time of the year is between November and the beginning of July.
Artichokes are a large perennial plant that native to the western and central Mediterranean region, and cousin of the Gundelia (Kenger in Turkish) plant. If you want to cook Artichoke, you need to pick the bulb before it blooms. After the plant blooms, it is not suitable for cooking.
The Story of Artichoke
Of course, there is also a legend for artichokes like every plant. According to Greek mythology, a beautiful girl named Cynara lived on the island of Zinari. Zeus persuaded this girl to live on Olympos Mountain with him and made her a goddess to gain immortality in return. However, after a while, she missed her family in the world of mortals and began to see her mother secretly in her old world. When he learned this, Zeus transformed the girl into a plant to keep her in the soil in the world of mortals forever. Poor Cynara turns to an artichoke. The artichoke’s Latin name, Cynara scolymus, was named after this legendary girl.
Stuffed Artichoke
Ingredients
- 8 Artichoke Bottoms (Trimmed and Cleaned)
- 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup juice a lemon
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 fresh dill sprig finely chopped
- 1 onion (large) finely chopped
- 1 patatoe peeled and diced cut
- 2 carrots peeled and diced cut
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
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Put 3 table spoon of olive oil to the pan and add the finely chopped onions. Saute onion over medium high heat until the onions get softy.
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Add diced potatoes, carrots and peas to the pan and saute for about 3 minutes until the carrots begin to soften. Then remove the pan from the heat.
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In a bowl; mix the juice of two lemons, water, remaining olive oil, sugar and salt. This will be our cooking sauce.
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Place the Artichoke Bottoms to a sauce pan and then scoop the potatoes, peas and carrots mixture into the artichokes. Sprinkle the finely chopped fresh dill on the stuffings and then pour the cooking sauce into the sauce pan and close the lid.
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Bring the heat to the medium level and simmer for 25 minutes until Artichoke bottoms soften. Once the artichokes are ready, carefully scoop them out of the sauce pan onto a serving plate.
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Serve Cold.
