Artichokes play a big role in Italian cuisine, but in our area this plant is treated with distrust. Many people have come across artichokes on supermarket shelves or on the pages of magazines. I suggest you find out what the benefits of this plant are and how to eat it correctly.
Residents of northern countries rarely show the desire to cook artichokes themselves at home. Some are confused by the appearance of his plant, others simply do not know which side to approach it from. However, this vegetable, exotic for our country, deserves the attention of housewives due to its benefits and unique taste in combination with many products.
What does an artichoke look like?
In nature, the artichoke looks like a huge weed. Its height can reach 2m.
The appearance of artichoke fruits can be called unattractive. They resemble thistles or hop cones.
The appearance of the vegetable can be different: oblong or round shape, green or purple fruits, with or without thorns - these differences are explained by the variety of varieties. According to various sources, there are from 95 to 135 types of artichoke in the world.
It is interesting that, despite the abundance of varieties, the artichoke in many countries is considered simply a weed. In fact, only two types are often eaten - cardoon and seed artichoke.
It is very important when buying a “vegetable” to pay attention to its degree of maturity. Only young green plants are suitable for consumption, the size of which can range from the diameter of a walnut to the size of a small orange.
Important: If the upper leaves have dried out and opened, and a reddish fluff is visible between them, refrain from purchasing - the older the artichoke, the less suitable it is for eating.
What does an artichoke look like?
Artichoke: beneficial properties and contraindications
- Due to the content of inulin in the artichoke (a polysaccharide that is broken down in the body into fructose), it is useful for diabetes mellitus
- The potassium and sodium content of the plant makes it useful for people with high acidity of gastric juice. In addition, potassium helps cope with swelling
- The benefits of artichoke are manifested in reducing cholesterol levels in the body.
- It is also worth noting the anti-inflammatory and choleretic effect of artichoke
- Tonic effect
- Help with urolithiasis
- Antioxidant
- A good means of preventing colds and viral diseases
- Helpful for anemia due to its iron content
- Cynarin in artichoke helps improve cerebral circulation
Contraindications
- Ulcer
- Gastritis
- Reduced acidity of gastric juice
- Low blood pressure
- Liver failure
- Pregnancy
- Lactation
- Age up to 12 years
- Cholelithiasis
Artichokes: benefits and contraindications
What vitamins does artichoke contain?
Water is the main substance in the artichoke. Its content in artichoke reaches 85%. The plant, in addition to its high protein and fiber content, is rich in vitamins of various groups:
- Group B - thiamine - riboflavin, niacin, etc.
- Vitamin C - ascorbic acid
- Vitamin E - tocopherol
- Vitamin K
What vitamins are contained in artichokes? The benefits of artichokes
Health benefits of artichoke tea
Interesting: Dried artichoke tea is widely consumed in Vietnam.
- Add 1/4 tsp to your regular tea. artichoke - for increased acidity or inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract
- Has a laxative effect
- Has a mild diuretic effect. The peculiarity of artichoke tea is that it does not remove potassium and sodium from the body, but is their source, unlike other diuretics
- Helps normalize and improve metabolism
- Prevents infections of internal organs
- Reduces damage from alcohol intoxication
- Helps reduce blood sugar levels
- Good antioxidant
- Has anti-cancer effects
You can purchase artichoke tea in tea bags or buy it as a dried herb. Use 1 sachet or 1.5 tsp per glass of boiling water. dry leaves. Let the tea steep for 5-7 minutes and drink before meals. If you use tea for preventive purposes or for general health, drink it once a day, and as a medicinal plant - 3 times a day before meals.
A spoon of honey will help brighten up the bitter taste.
Artichoke tea
Artichoke in folk medicine
According to historians, artichokes have long been used in folk medicine. European healers recommended artichoke infusion for liver diseases and for the treatment of jaundice.
Even the recipe for preparing this potion has been preserved: 10 grams of dry or fresh leaves of the plant, combined with a small amount of crushed artichoke root, poured a glass of boiling water, added a small spoon of honey and took it warm.
For pain in the kidneys, the patient was given another drink: a couple of teaspoons of dry artichoke leaves were poured into a glass of hot water, left for ten minutes, then filtered and the patient was given half a glass of the medicine three times a day a few minutes before meals.
Many ordinary people considered artichoke tincture especially effective, which was prepared as follows: 50 grams of dry leaves of the plant were poured with one hundred milliliters of alcohol, infused for only fifteen to twenty minutes, passed through cheesecloth or a fine sieve and taken three times a day, diluting two tablespoons spoons of tincture with a glass of cool boiled water.
How do they eat artichokes, with what?
Artichokes are valued for their universal taste, as they can be combined with any food. There is no cooking problem in preparing artichokes.
You can add this plant to salads, bake a pie, combine with meat and fish as a side dish. Feel free to experiment by creating your own unique recipes.
The peculiarity of artichokes is that they can be eaten at any stage of maturity. However, prepare them in different ways: for example, use young artichokes raw, preserve or pickle medium-ripe inflorescences, and boil or stew ripe ones.
For example, you can even cook artichokes as a separate dish:
- You will need baby artichokes, butter, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Rinse the artichokes under running water and remove the outer leaves.
- Place the butter, cut into thin slices, between the leaves of the inflorescence.
- Add garlic, salt and pepper between the leaves
- Steam for 15-20 minutes
Important: Do not use ripe artichokes that have already opened for cooking - they acquire a strong bad taste that even overpowers the overall taste of the dish.
Ripe, opened artichokes should not be eaten.
General information about the product artichoke
Recipes using this ingredient are very popular in the United States (especially in California).
As you know, the birthplace of this product is the Mediterranean. It was brought to North America by Spanish and French settlers.
What are artichokes? Recipes for preparing this product cannot be used by housewives without knowledge of what it looks like and where it can be purchased.
Artichoke is a herbaceous plant that belongs to the Asteraceae family. It has large inflorescences and lower fleshy parts, which, in fact, are used for preparing various dishes.
In culinary artichokes, it is customary to call the unopened flower buds of plants, which consist of large and fleshy scales.
To make a tasty and nutritious dish using this product, you can purchase both young buds-inflorescences and later ones - cones. Both elements of the plant can always be found in supermarkets. However, I would like to immediately warn you that they are quite expensive. That is why artichoke dishes are prepared only on holidays and served as a real delicacy.
Artichoke Bottoms: Appetizers
Before you start cooking the artichokes, clean them.
- Cut off the stem
- Remove the top leaves
- Cut good leaves from the top onto your finger
- Rinse under running water or in water with the juice of one lemon.
- If you are boiling artichokes, throw them into boiling water, after salting it and adding lemon juice. Check for doneness with a fork
- If you are using only the artichoke bottom - Scrape it with a teaspoon to remove any fluff.
Important: Place peeled artichokes in water with lemon juice or sprinkle the cuts with lemon juice, otherwise the inflorescences will darken.
How to clean an artichoke
Stuffed bottoms
- You will need: 8 ripe artichokes, 500g minced meat, 1 onion, 2 eggs, 2 cups breadcrumbs, spices - salt, black pepper, red pepper, cumin, herbs - dill or parsley For the sauce: 2 onions, a head of garlic, 2 carrots, sweet pepper, 300 ml water, salt, pepper, turmeric, 1 tbsp starch, bay leaf, allspice. For frying: olive oil, eggs and flour
- Prepare the artichoke bottoms and place them in water with lemon, finely chop the onion
- Make the sauce: finely chop the onion, grate the garlic on a fine grater, cut the carrots into strips or cubes, chop the celery and bell peppers as finely as possible. Fry the onion a little, add garlic and vegetables, turmeric for a yellowish tint and add water. Simmer a little and add salt, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf. Finally, thicken everything with starch.
- Make minced meat, preferably beef. Pass the meat and onions through a meat grinder, add the egg, spices and crackers
- Fill the bottoms with minced meat until it forms a ball.
- Dip the artichokes in the egg and flour and place in a frying pan with plenty of heated olive oil (deep-fried)
- Place the fried bottoms on a baking sheet and simmer in the sauce. Place in the oven for 40 minutes at 160°
- You can sprinkle the finished product with dill or parsley
Artichokes baked with eggs
- You will need: 2 artichokes, 2 eggs, carrots, turnips, beans, asparagus (150g vegetables in total), canned green peas, 125g milk sauce, 8g hard cheese, 15g butter
- Dice the turnips and carrots and lightly fry them
- Chop the asparagus and beans and boil in pre-salted water
- Mix prepared vegetables with green peas
- Season the vegetable mixture with milk sauce
- Boil the bottoms of the artichokes and stuff them with the vegetable mixture.
- Place soft-boiled eggs on top
- Grate hard cheese, pour milk sauce
- Bake until done
Artichoke bottoms baked with eggs
An easy recipe for oven-baked artichokes
Ingredients for 2 servings:
- 4 large artichokes
- 4 tbsp. l. olive oil
- Juice of one lemon
- 3 cloves garlic
- Salt to taste
- Agree, a tolerable amount of ingredients
Step-by-step preparation:
Step 1:
In a separate bowl, mix the crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
Step 2:
Soak the peeled and halved artichokes thoroughly in the resulting marinade and leave for 5 minutes.
Step 3:
Set the oven temperature to 220 degrees. Place the artichokes in a baking dish and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
Step 4:
Turn the shriveled poor fellows over to the other side and bake 10 more.
Step 5:
Serve with lemon wedges, cream sauce and white wine. By the way, if suddenly, while preparing an unusual plant for the first time, you eat a piece of fluff or an extra leaf, nothing tragic will happen. Honestly. We checked.
Interesting from “Pate”: artichokes have a second, Latin, name “cinara”. It is connected with the legend of the restless Zeus, who could not keep his manhood in his pants. The loving god once again fell for an earthly beauty named Cinara, dragged her to Olympus, and when she missed her family and secretly went to see them, he became furious and turned her... into an artichoke. A monster, in general.
you'll find an easy and delicious way to make delicious artichoke pate.
And finally, a cool recipe for edible flowers in Roman style:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-rKNtWdgp8E%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque
Artichoke Pie
Basically, marinated artichokes are needed for pies. Buy them ready-made or make them yourself.
- You will need (for 3 servings): 4 large artichokes, 2 lemons, 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, a clove of garlic, olive oil, salt, black pepper (preferably freshly ground), a couple of sprigs of parsley
- Peel the artichokes and boil in water acidified with lemon juice for 30-40 minutes, until soft.
- Cut the artichokes in half
- Prepare the dressing from the remaining ingredients
- Season the artichoke and let stand in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours
How to marinate artichokes
Pie with cherry tomatoes and feta
- You will need: for the brize dough - 150g flour, 75g low-fat yogurt, 2 tbsp. margarine, 1 tsp. salt. For the pie - 150g marinated artichokes, 200ml cream, 150g feta, 4 chicken eggs, 20 cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper
- Start making the pie by preparing the dough. Mix salt and flour
- Add margarine and yogurt, mix well
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for 1-1.5 hours
- Cut the artichokes into 4 pieces
- Crumble the feta
- Cut the tomatoes in half
- Beat eggs with cream
- Add artichokes, tomatoes and feta to the resulting mass, add salt and pepper
- Place the dough in the pan and top with the mixture
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 200°
Pie with artichokes and cherry tomatoes
Pie with artichokes and feta
- You will need: 540g puff pastry, 80ml cream, 120g feta, 1 egg, 2 tbsp. olive oil, salt, pepper, wheat flour
- Cut the artichokes
- Crumble the feta
- Combine feta and cream in a blender, add salt and pepper to taste
- Roll out the dough and place on baking paper
- Place the filling on top and the artichokes on top
- Beat the egg and brush the edges of the dough
- Bake for 15 minutes at 220°, then 20-25 minutes at 190°
Pie with artichokes and feta
Pie with artichokes and ham
- You will need: 1 shallot and 1 red onion, 110g butter, 800g marinated artichokes, 480g ham, 240g hard cheese, 3 chicken eggs, 3 tbsp. wheat flour, 120 ml cream, 60 g parmesan, 2 puff pastries, salt, black pepper and hot red pepper
- Chop the onion and fry in butter
- Cut the artichokes and ham into cubes
- Place the onions and butter in a large bowl and add the flour.
- Beat 2 eggs and pour into a bowl with the onion and flour
- Grate hard cheese and Parmesan on a coarse grater, pour into a bowl
- Add black pepper, red pepper and salt
- Toss in the artichokes and ham.
- Pour the cream into the mixture and mix thoroughly
- Place one layer of dough in the mold, add the filling, cover with a second layer
- Pinch the edges
- Beat one egg and brush the surface
- Bake for 45 minutes at 175°
Pie with artichokes and ham
Preparing the marinade
To prepare a spicy snack, artichokes are cleaned of old leaves and then the stem is trimmed. After this, pour water into the pan and squeeze out lemon juice. Artichokes are cut in half and dipped in the previously prepared liquid so that they do not darken.
Pour water into a deep saucepan and add vinegar. When the liquid boils, add salt and seasonings to taste. Add artichokes to the resulting marinade and let them boil a little (about 5 minutes). After this, the products are placed in a colander and shaken vigorously.
The finished artichokes are placed in sterilized jars, poured with calcined olive oil and tightly closed with lids. In this form, the filled containers are cooled and stored in the pantry. After a few weeks, pickled artichokes can be enjoyed as a savory snack.
Pizza with artichokes
Pizza with leeks and bacon
- You will need: 6 pieces of bacon, 200g marinated artichokes, 1 leek, 30ml olive oil, 300g pizza dough, 50g Parmesan cheese, salt, ground black pepper, parsley
- Fry the bacon in a dry frying pan
- Fry the onion
- Place the dough on a baking sheet
- Top with onions and sliced artichokes and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes
- Finally, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and add chopped bacon.
- You can decorate with herbs or onions
Pizza with artichokes
Stew artichokes on the stove
How should you stew artichokes? Recipes for preparing various dishes using this product must be present in the cookbook of every housewife. If you want to get a delicious side dish for meat or fish, we suggest stewing artichokes on the stove. For this we need:
- large artichokes - 4 pcs.;
- vegetable broth - 2 full glasses;
- olive oil (not flavored) - optional;
- garlic cloves - 3 pcs.;
- semi-sweet white wine - ½ glass;
- fresh parsley - use to taste;
- sea salt, allspice at discretion.
Artichoke salads
There are many recipes for artichoke salads; some prefer simple salads that feature the distinct flavor of the plant. Others prefer culinary multi-component masterpieces from different cuisines of the world.
Vegetable salad
- You will need artichokes, celery, tomatoes, apples, lemon juice, vegetable oil, salt, pepper
- Boil the artichoke bottoms and cut into cubes
- Cut the celery root into strips
- Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the skin (preferably seeds), cut
- Slice the apple
- Mix the ingredients, add a little lemon juice, spices
- Season with vegetable oil
Egg salad
- You will need artichokes, eggs, mayonnaise
- Boil artichoke leaves until tender, chop
- Boil eggs hard, chop
- Mix artichokes with eggs and season with mayonnaise
- You can add a little garlic
Greek artichoke salad
- You will need 8 artichokes, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tomatoes, garlic, seasonings (salt, pepper), 1 tsp. olive oil, herbs - optional
- Peel and cut the artichokes
- Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel and remove the seeds, chop
- Mix vegetables
- Crush the garlic, mix with spices, herbs, lemon juice and olive oil
- Season the vegetables with the mixture and keep in the refrigerator for 1-1.5 hours
Artichoke salad
Artichoke sauce
- You will need: 4 large artichokes, 1 lemon, 50ml dry white wine, 50ml white wine vinegar, 6 anchovy fillets in oil, 1 tbsp. capers in salt, olive oil, spices
- Clean the artichokes
- Add lemon juice, wine, salt, vinegar to cold water
- Boil the artichokes in this water for 15-20 minutes.
- Turn the boiled artichokes over and dry overnight
- Finely chop the artichokes, mix with capers, anchovies, olive oil
- Add pepper
- Grind the resulting mass with a blender until pureed.
- Store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container.
Important: The sauce should be buttery, don’t be afraid to add oil if necessary.
Artichoke sauce
The perfect breakfast - tortilla
Have you cooked artichokes but can’t eat them? Now is the time to make tortillas out of them before they go bad. To prepare the dish you will need about two hundred grams of boiled artichokes, four eggs, salt, pepper, oil (vegetable or olive). The tortilla recipe is as follows:
- Cut the fruit into slices and fry.
- While the artichokes are browning in the pan, whisk the eggs with a fork until smooth, but do not beat, and add a pinch of salt.
- When the fruits turn golden, pour the eggs into them.
- Cover the pan with a lid and fry for a few minutes over medium heat.
- After two minutes, flip the tortilla over to the other side and wait a few more minutes.
The dish can be served both hot and cold.
