Grilled Artichokes

Artichokes…such strange things to eat. We nibble away at the ends of the leaves like biting stems of grass. Of course, as you go on, there’s more to bite until the leaves get so tender you can almost eat them all. And then, the prize, the heart, the delicate tender heart.

The problem is you can really only eat one at a time because lets face it, once you’ve finally made it to the really tasty part, who wants to start again? I don’t.

Perhaps we should only eat one at a time, slowly and patiently, but at this time of year, these baby artichokes are so cheap that you can’t really just buy one per person. Last week they were selling for as little as 50 cents a kilo, and for a kilo I got 8.

At prices like that you can certainly afford to discard all those tough outer leaves guilt free and go straight to the heart of the matter.  And even if you live somewhere where they aren’t so cheap and you are only going to eat one, then this is still a great way to savour them.

What to do….

• Put a pot of salted water on to boil and cut off the pointy top of the artichoke and trim the stem.
• Then take off all the tough outer leaves till you are left with the paler tender leaves enclosing the heart. Rub some lemon as you go to stop them from turning brown. Drop the hearts into the pan of boiling salted water and par-cook for a couple of minutes until the artichokes stems become slightly tender – but not fully cooked.
• Remove from the water and drain well. Cut them in half lengthways and place them in a dish. Pour over some olive oil, lemon, salt,  black pepper and any other fresh herbs you fancy. Allow to marinate for at least an hour.
• I like to cook them on the plancha, a griddle, but a skillet would work fine as would a BBQ. If you are using the plancha or skillet, heat some olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse salt, then sear the marinated artichokes until they turn golden. If you are using a BBQ then just pop them right on.
• Eat as they are or roll them around in the left over marinade. Parmesan – grated or shaved – would work well too, now that I think about it ..hhmm… next time.