Stuffed Artichokes

The first time I had stuffed artichokes was at my cousin, Megan's, birthday dinner at this delicious Italian restaurant called Bacaro in the Lower East Side. Unfortunately, I have no recollection of what the artichoke was stuffed with, however I remember enjoying it very much! Other than that, my only experience with whole artichokes has been my mom boiling them and serving them up with mayonnaise. Artichoke hearts are always the tastiest part. A good friend, John, was in town for the night because he to do some work in lower Manhattan, so he came over for dinner and I thought this would be a nice appetizer. It went along quite well with the fennel and cabbage salad and a main dish of salmon. I got inspiration for this recipe on, you guessed it, Artichokes.org...When in doubt, just go to "Name of food".org or com and you should find some good stuff!

Stuffed Artichokes

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

2 large artichokes

1 cup herbed bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/8 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Ground pepper

2 cups water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash artichokes under cold running water. Cut off stems at base and remove small bottom leaves. Cut off top quarter of artichokes; discard. Spread leaves, remove center leaves and fuzzy centers with a spoon and discard.

2. Toss bread crumbs with cheese, olive oil, garlic, parsley, oregano, and pepper to taste. Stuff bread crumb mixture between leaves of artichokes and fill centers.

3. Place stuffed artichokes in a 9-inch square baking dish. Pour 2 cups boiling water around the artichokes. Cover with lid or foil. Bake for 40 minutes or until artichokes are tender. Remove artichokes from baking dish and place on rack; cool to room temperature.