STUFFED BABY ARTICHOKES, IZMIR STYLE

Stuffed Baby Artichokes, Izmir Style image

Provided by Molly O'Neill

Categories dinner, lunch, appetizer, main course, side dish

Time 5h30m

Yield Four servings

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

1/3 cup short-grain rice
6 cups cold water
2 lemons
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
12 baby artichokes
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
3 teaspoons sugar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large onion, peeled
1 pound fresh fava beans, shelled and skinned
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
Lemon wedges for garnish

Steps:

Wash the rice in several changes of water; drain. Place in a small bowl and cover with very hot water. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 6 cups cold water, the juice of 1 1/2 lemons, 1 teaspoon salt and the flour. Gently smack each artichoke on the edge of a hard surface to open up the leaves. Remove the tough outer leaves and cut off the spiky tips of the remaining ones. Cut off the stems so the artichokes will stand upright. Remove any hard surfaces around each base with a vegetable peeler. Spread open the inner leaves and use a melon baller to scoop out the choke in the center. Place the artichoke in the water mixture as you finish each one.
Drain the rice and combine with the scallions, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the dill, 2 teaspoons of the sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Drain the artichokes and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid. Spread open the artichoke leaves and stuff the cavity of each one with the filling.
Place the onion in the center of a deep 9-inch nonreactive skillet with a tightly fitting lid or a round flameproof casserole with lid. Surround the onion with the artichokes, fava beans and carrots.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, the remaining sugar, the reserved 1/2 cup liquid and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and pour over the artichokes. Crumple and wet a 12-inch square piece of parchment paper and lay it directly over the artichokes.
Top with an inverted, heatproof plate that just fits inside the pan. Place over medium-high heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Pour 1 cup of boiling water down the inside of the pan. Boil vigorously for 1 minute. Lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook slowly until the artichokes are very tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside, still covered, until the artichokes are completely cool, about 3 to 4 hours.
Discard the onion. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the artichokes, favas and carrots to a shallow serving dish. Spoon some of the cooking juices over them, garnish with the dill and lemon wedges and serve.